During an appearance on CNN’s Reliable Sources Sunday, veteran journalist Carl Bernstein trashed the Benghazi committee ahead of Hillary Clinton’s testimony and insisted the Democrat will “murder them because it has been a witch hunt. It has been partisan. It's great opportunity for her.”
Bernstein also praised Clinton’s debate performance as “her greatest moment in this campaign which has been a disaster for her up until the debate” but ultimately admitted “I don't think that a reset button was successfully hit. We're still back to these basic questions about her truthfulness about the server, the foundation, about the FBI investigation.”
The liberal reporter continued to criticize Clinton for her “difficult relationship with the truth”:
Well, there's the question of what we saw Hillary at her best. Her competence, her readiness to be president. Her command of the issues which was masterful and then we get back to her difficult relationship to the truth...This doesn't go away. It's a huge issue for the Republicans to hit on and it's one of the reasons Joe Biden is considering running because he understands where she's weak.
It wasn’t until host Brian Stelter brought up Vice President Joe Biden’s potential presidential bid that Bernstein jumped into attack mode and stressed that despite the problems Clinton has with her private e-mail server the Democrat will “murder” the GOP-lead committee:
But they [Biden’s team] also see this opportunity that did not exist until we've seen Hillary being weakened by what's happened including an ongoing FBI investigation that’s not going to go away. We have the committee, the Benghazi committee this week well she's going to murder them because it has been a witch hunt. It has been partisan. It's great opportunity for her. But still this story goes on. Distrust, big factor.
See relevant transcript below.
CNN’s Reliable Sources
October 18, 2015
BRIAN STELTER: You feel that some of the praise for Clinton is masking an underlying problem for her.
CARL BERNSTEIN: Well first I think it was her greatest moment in this campaign which has been a disaster for her up until the debate.
STELTER: A disaster?
BERNSTEIN: Up until the debate. But I don't think that a reset button was successfully hit. We're still back to these basic questions about her truthfulness about the server, the foundation, about the FBI investigation. And it's all one story that's not going to go away. But was it her best moment? Absolutely.
STELTER: You say it's all one story. Often times in the press in these days of instant headlines things come, things go. You're saying there's all one big story that everything ties into.
BERNSTEIN: Well, there's the question of what we saw Hillary at her best. Her competence, her readiness to be president. Her command of the issues which was masterful and then we get back to her difficult relationship to the truth. [Sic] over easy questions about what happened and should have been able to be recited about what really happened as opposed to obfuscation. This doesn't go away. It's a huge issue for the Republicans to hit on and it's one of the reasons Joe Biden is considering running because he understands where she's weak.
STELTER: What are you hearing about Biden and the prospect of an entrance to the race?. Then again we've been talk about an announcement in the next couple of days or at least a leaked sense of whether he’s going to run. But then again we’ve been talking about this since, I don’t know, June.
BERNSTEIN: I talked to people talking to him over the weekend. It's family decision. And the family, his family has to really all be behind it according to these people and they are meeting this weekend again. I think they are very close to a decision. He wants to run. The question is can the whole family be up for this and enthusiastic the way they need to be after the tragedy that's occurred. But they also see this opportunity that did not exist until we've seen Hillary being weakened by what's happened including an ongoing FBI investigation that’s not going to go away. We have the committee, the Benghazi committee this week well she's going to murder them because it has been a witch hunt. It has been partisan. It's great opportunity for her. But still this story goes on. Distrust, big factor.
