"If I hold you any closer, I'll be in back of you." That was Groucho's famous line in A Day at the Races. It's also Hillary's strategy in South Carolina, as she hugs President Obama as close as she can in an effort to appeal to African-Americans, who make up a majority of Dem primary voters there.
Joe Scarborough threw a serious spanner into Hillary's strategy on today's Morning Joe. Scarborough displayed a tweet from Hillary spox Brian Fallon saying how "strange" it is that leaks about investigations into Hillary "seem to emerge on the eve of debates and primaries." Repeatedly calling Fallon a "hack spokesman," Scarborough pointed out that Hillary, via Fallon, was attacking the "integrity" of President Obama and the inspectors general in his administration. That might loosen up Hillary's clinch of Obama a bit in the eyes of Dem voters!
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Okay, the Washington Post is reporting that State Department investigators last fall issued a subpoena to the Clinton Foundation seeking documents about the charity's projects that may have required approval from the federal government while Hillary Clinton was serving as Secretary of State. The full scope and status of the inquiry have not been made clear. The Post also reports the subpoena asked for records related to Clinton aide Huma Abedin. The paper reports that for six months in 2012, she was "employed simultaneously by the State Department, the foundation, Clinton's personal office, and a private consulting firm with ties to the Clintons." There is no indication the State Department is investigating Clinton herself. Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon called the investigations fishing expeditions and suggested the probe was politically motivated.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Wait a second--I'm sorry. Who's conducting this?
MIKA: The State Department.
STEVE RATTNER: The inspector general.
JOE: So it's the inspector general that is politically motivated, just like for the State Department--John Kerry's State Department, Chris Cillizza, just like it is the Justice Department's -- our intel agency's IG who is politically motivated, too. The Clintons just can't -- you know what makes me sad is, it makes me sad that Hillary Clinton and her people continue to attack the integrity of Barack Obama. I think Barack Obama has been a great president and I just wonder why she's attacking Barack Obama this way.
MIKA: Ah-ha [smiles].
JOE: I don't think Bernie Sanders has questioned the integrity of Barack Obama's State Department. I don't think --
RATTNER: I think we're getting a little far out there.
JOE: I don't think Bernie Sanders has questioned the integrity of intel -- no, seriously, let be serious here for a second. When your hack spokesman --
MIKA: [big sigh]
JOE: -- starts attacking inspector generals in the intel agencies and your hack spokesman starts attacking the integrity of inspectors generals in John Kerry's State Department you're desperate and I agree with you because of their hack spokesman's approach to this, attacking the integrity of inspectors generals that, yes, Hillary Clinton's week just went from bad to worse.
