CNN’s Brooke Baldwin took up her shift in the liberal media’s campaign to discredit Fox News’ bombshell report detailing the extent of the FBI’s investigation in Hillary Clinton, during Thursday’s CNN Newsroom’s three o’clock hour. “For the Clinton campaign, the headache is not going away here,” Baldwin whined, “Donald Trump wasted no time at a rally this afternoon bringing up the Clinton Foundation woes.” But that’s small potatoes compared to her panelist David Gergen who demanded that agents should be fired leaking to Fox News.
“Evan Perez and our justice correspondent crew in Washington essentially in talking to their sources within Justice saying that there is no talk of indictment, so that's number one,” she rambled, trying to use the Clinton campaign talking point of “there’s no case here.”
The CNN host then leaned on former presidential adviser David Gergen to slam the FBI for talking to Fox News, declaring, “The leaks have been horrendous…” He pleaded for the FBI and the Justice Department do something to put the boot on the neck of their agents:
It ought to be a firing offense if you're caught leaking because the leaks are conflicting, they’re confusing, they’re depressing, and they’re unfair to Mrs. Clinton among other things… But where is the leadership of the Justice Department and FBI to crack down on this? You really have to put people under pressure and say, “You leak, you're gone.”
Baldwin followed up Gergen by bemoaning Donald Trump’s use of the dreaded “"I" word, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.” “Yes, and there's just no basis for that,” Gergen claimed.
Not long after Gergen smeared the FBI, Baldwin brought on CNN reporter Even Perez and implored him to “Set us all straight. Set, you know, the public straight.” “You know from the reporting we've been doing for a year now on this issue, we're not anywhere near close to that,” Perez obliged, “The FBI has been looking into this well over a year and we're told they haven't gotten much further than what the allegations were in [Clinton Cash].”
Gergen’s fixation with what he claims is “unfair” for Clinton was evidence of his biased in favor of Clinton, which is obvious since he used to work for her husband. But what about what’s unfair for voters going to the polls with incomplete information about who the candidates are?
Transcript below:
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
November 3, 2016
3:11:23 PM Eastern [48 seconds]KRISTEN POWERS: The problem for her is obviously that anything related to, you know, her honesty and which has been rejuvenated, this issue has been rejuvenated with the FBI director coming out and making this announcement right before the election and I think that of all the issues that could come up for her, this is the one that harms her and Trump has hit on something that a lot of people feel, we don't want to go back to the '90s. We don't want to relive the constant investigations. Now, to be fair, the Republicans are partially responsible for that because they do sort of over-investigate the Clintons but the Clintons invite it on themselves as well sometimes, so it is effective in that way, except for the fact that I feel like it goes a little too far. You know, it could possibly turn people off. It’s just a little too in your face.
(....)
3:18:58 p.m. [2 minutes and 28 seconds]
BALDWIN: For the Clinton campaign, the headache is not going away here. Donald Trump wasted no time at a rally this afternoon bringing up the Clinton Foundation woes.
DONALD TRUMP: The investigation is described as a high priority. It's far reaching and has been going on for more than one year. It was reported that an avalanche of information is coming in. The FBI agents say their investigation is likely to yield an indictment. Reports also show the political leadership at the Department of Justice is trying to protect Hillary Clinton and is interfering with the FBI's criminal investigation.
BALDWIN: So, I’ve got my panel back and let me just tell you. This is the reporting. You just heard Donald Trump. Evan Perez and our justice correspondent crew in Washington essentially in talking to their sources within Justice saying that there is no talk of indictment, so that's number one. Number two, though, there is a bit of push/pull between FBI and DOJ, that is an issue as they've been looking into these Clinton Foundation woes. So, that is just — that's the facts, that's what we have from our CNN reporting. I have Gloria, Kirsten, and David back with me and also Manu and so David Gergen, let me just begin with you. This is someone part of the right, on CNN.com somebody had written it like this in reference to the FBI and DOJ and the election: “Another casualty of 2016 has been the mystique of the FBI” The fact that it appears that not everyone is on the same page.
DAVID GERGEN: The leaks have been horrendous coming out of the—
BALDWIN: Leaky.
GERGEN: Very leaky and there ought to be some way to put a stop to it. It ought to be a firing offense if you're caught leaking because the leaks are conflicting, they’re confusing, they’re depressing, and they’re unfair to Mrs. Clinton among other things. But there also have also been some leaks against Mr. Trump so both sides have reason to be angry about this. But where is the leadership of the Justice Department and FBI to crack down on this? You really have to put people under pressure and say, “You leak, you're gone.”
BALDWIN: And it's not just Donald Trump who has been saying the "I" word, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.
GERGEN: Yes, and there's just no basis for that.
BALDWIN: And there isn’t and that’s what we’ve been doing, the checking because there isn’t that we’ve seen.
(....)
3:22:51 p.m. [1 minute and 10 seconds]
BALDWIN: Let's cut past the politics. Evan Perez, set us all straight. Set, you know, the public straight. You've been doing the reporting on all of this. What's the deal? FBI, DOJ, impeachment, Clinton Foundation. Set it to me straight.
EVAN PEREZ: Well, Brooke, I think one of the first things is you heard from Donald Trump there. He says there's an indictment in the offing in this Clinton investigation, this Clinton Foundation investigation and I’ve got to tell you. You know from the reporting we've been doing for a year now on this issue, we're not anywhere near close to that. We're still, frankly at the starting gates of this investigation. The FBI agents who have been doing it have first started with four different field offices in the FBI in Los Angeles, Little Rock, Washington, and New York wanting to dig into some allegations that came out in this book by a conservative writer Peter Schweizer, Clinton Cash, and the book basically alleged the Clinton Foundation was taking donations from foreign donors and exchanging them for favors while she was at the State Department. The FBI has been looking into this well over a year and we're told they haven't gotten much further than what the allegations were in the book, Brooke.
