Discussing the growing email controversy swirling around Hillary Clinton with Bloomberg Politics managing editor Mark Halperin on Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie suggested it could resurrect another scandal for the would-be 2016 contender: “What about Republicans? This certainly hands them a lot of ammunition and breathes new life, perhaps, into the whole investigation into Benghazi.”
Halperin agreed: “In this case, there are some legitimate questions, it does reignite Benghazi. More people in the media, I think, will be open to saying, ‘What was she not revealing about that?’ But it reignites the question, why did she turn some of her private emails over to the government and not all of them?”
Moments earlier, Halperin revealed his astonishment that Clinton was actually addressing the email scandal:
Look, it’s testament to how Hillary Clinton's aides are concerned about this that she’s done something I’ve never seen her do since I started covering her in the early '90s, she’s giving into the Republicans and to the press by releasing – saying she’s going to release some of these emails. She never gives in, there’s no history of this....What's the main reason that Hillary Clinton doesn't like to give in when Republicans demand she release documents? Because she knows all it does is whet their appetite for more.
Guthrie began the segment by wondering: “Let's use a weather metaphor, okay? Is this a passing shower, is it a squall, is it a cyclone?” Halperin replied: “This is like Boston's third of ten snowstorms going national. It's destructive, it's distracting, and you know you're gonna get more.”
Noting Clinton supporters trying to downplay the scandal, Guthrie posed: “Some people might say, ‘Oh, it’s the political chattering class, that’s who’s interested in this, real people aren’t paying attention.’ You think there's any truth to that?”
Halperin responded:
Well, I’ll tell you who’s paying attention, is Democrats who want Hillary Clinton to be president but they’re terrified that this shows the kind of judgment she showed previously, not the kind of thing that’s going to help her get elected president....They’re Dumbfounded....And while it might just be an inside thing now – the public image of Hillary Clinton, this plays to all the worst things people have thought about her over the years, secretive and playing by her own rules.
On Tuesday, fellow Today co-host Matt Lauer described the scandal as providing a “lay-up” to Clinton critics.
On Thursday’s Good Morning America, White House correspondent Jonathan Karl asserted that Clinton would be using “the honor system” in deciding what emails to release.
Here is a full transcript of Guthrie’s March 5 exchange with Halperin:
7:10 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Mark Halperin has covered Hillary Clinton extensively, wrote about her 2008 candidacy in the book Game Change, and he’s now managing editor of Bloomberg Politics. Mark, good morning.
MARK HALPERIN: Good morning, Savannah.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Clinton Responds to Email Scandal; Says “I Want the Public to See My Email”]
GUTHRIE: Let's use a weather metaphor, okay? Is this a passing shower, is it a squall, is it a cyclone?
MARK HALPERIN: This is like Boston's third of ten snowstorms going national. It's destructive, it's distracting, and you know you're gonna get more.
GUTHRIE: Some people might say, “Oh, it’s the political chattering class, that’s who’s interested in this, real people aren’t paying attention.” You think there's any truth to that?
HALPERIN: Well, I’ll tell you who’s paying attention, is Democrats who want Hillary Clinton to be president but they’re terrified that this shows the kind of judgment she showed previously, not the kind of thing that’s going to help her get elected president.
GUTHRIE: What are Democrats telling you? Because, I mean, here’s somebody who certainly knows what it is like to be under scrutiny. To set up a personal email account, to use it exclusively at the State Department, to have her own server, even if there’s nothing nefarious about it, it looks bad.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Clinton Email Controversy Grows; How Worried Are Democrats Ahead of 2016 Campaign?]
HALPERIN: They’re Dumbfounded. Look, it’s testament to how Hillary Clinton's aides are concerned about this that she’s done something I’ve never seen her do since I started covering her in the early '90s, she’s giving into the Republicans and to the press by releasing – saying she’s going to release some of these emails. She never gives in, there’s no history of this.
They know this is a big problem because they’re hearing from the same Democrats I'm hearing from, who say this looks bad. And while it might just be an inside thing now – the public image of Hillary Clinton, this plays to all the worst things people have thought about her over the years, secretive and playing by her own rules.
GUTHRIE: You talk about Democrats' reaction. What about Republicans? This certainly hands them a lot of ammunition and breathes new life, perhaps, into the whole investigation into Benghazi.
HALPERIN: What's the main reason that Hillary Clinton doesn't like to give in when Republicans demand she release documents? Because she knows all it does is whet their appetite for more. In this case, there are some legitimate questions, it does reignite Benghazi. More people in the media, I think, will be open to saying, “What was she not revealing about that?” But it reignites the question, why did she turn some of her private emails over to the government and not all of them? That question she doesn't address in her tweet last night, she’s gonna have to address that.
GUTHRIE: It’s gonna take more than a tweet then?
HALPERIN: It’s gonna to take more than a tweet. She’s gonna have to talk.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Mark Halperin, thank you so much.
HALPERIN: Thanks, Savannah.
