On Wednesday, NBC’s Today and CBS This Morning jumped on a former Hillary Clinton campaign official blasting the FBI investigation into her e-mail scandal as an “intrusion into the election” that was “utterly unjustified” and touted Bill Clinton blaming the “bogus e-mails” for her loss.
On Today, correspondent Kristen Welker reported: “Also this morning, a new look at FBI director James Comey's decision to revive the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails in the final weeks of the race. On Tuesday, the FBI's request for a search warrant related to Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server was unsealed...”
She noted that “investigators believed there was ‘probable cause’ a laptop seized as a part of its investigation into Anthony Weiner contained ‘classified information’” but that the “heavily-redacted documents contain few specifics.” Welker then declared: “Clinton's former spokesman [Brian Fallon] blasted Comey, tweeting the documents show his ‘intrusion on the election’ was ‘utterly unjustified.’”
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On the CBS morning show, correspondent Julianna Goldman proclaimed:
Well, the warrant gave new fodder to Hillary Clinton's team, who have blamed FBI director James Comey for her loss to Donald Trump. They say it shows investigators knew the new e-mails were just like the thousands they went through before Comey concluded in July he wouldn’t prosecute Clinton or any one on her staff for mishandling classified information.
Goldman explained: “The warrant doesn’t indicate they had found classified information, only that there was the potential to cause ‘exceptionally grave damage to national security.’” Like Welker, she turned to the same top Clinton aide to denounce the FBI search: “Former press secretary Brian Fallon responded to yesterday's release, saying it shows the FBI had no new evidence to reopen the investigation. ‘It is salt in the wound to see FBI rationale was this flimsy’ and ‘Comey’s intrusion on the election was as utterly unjustified as we suspected at time.’”
Goldman added: “Just a day earlier, Bill Clinton blamed his wife's loss in part on what he called the ‘bogus e-mails’ and the FBI.” A soundbite played of the former president whining: “We had the Russians and the FBI deal, which she couldn’t prevail against that.”
ABC’s Good Morning America did not cover the Democrats complaining about the newly unsealed warrant.
Here are excerpts of the December 21 coverage on NBC and CBS:
Today
7:08 AM ET(...)
KRISTEN WELKER: Also this morning, a new look at FBI director James Comey's decision to revive the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails in the final weeks of the race.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Clinton Allies Blast FBI Over Email Warrant; Bill Clinton and Donald Trump Exchange Shots]
On Tuesday, the FBI's request for a search warrant related to Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server was unsealed, showing investigators believed there was “probable cause” a laptop seized as a part of its investigation into Anthony Weiner contained “classified information.” That turned out not to be the case. The heavily-redacted documents contain few specifics. Clinton's former spokesman blasted Comey, tweeting the documents show his “intrusion on the election” was “utterly unjustified.”
(...)
CBS This Morning
7:11 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are trading insults over the election and how it was won. The feud comes as the FBI, yesterday, unsealed the warrant to search for Hillary Clinton's e-mails on a computer belonging to the husband of her aide Huma Abedin. Clinton allies say the document reveals the FBI had very little evidence to justify the search. Julianna Goldman is in Washington with more. Julianna, good morning.
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: Good morning. Well, the warrant gave new fodder to Hillary Clinton's team, who have blamed FBI director James Comey for her loss to Donald Trump. They say it shows investigators knew the new e-mails were just like the thousands they went through before Comey concluded in July he wouldn’t prosecute Clinton or any one on her staff for mishandling classified information.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Exposing Clinton Emails; FBI Unseals Warrant to Search Huma Abedin’s Laptop]
According to the October 30 warrant application, FBI agents said “there is probable cause to believe” the laptop shared by Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner contained “classified information.” The warrant doesn’t indicate they had found classified information, only that there was the potential to cause “exceptionally grave damage to national security.” It was the discovery of the e-mails that prompted FBI director James Comey, just 11 days before the election, to send a letter telling lawmakers the FBI was reopening its investigation into Clinton's e-mails. Former press secretary Brian Fallon responded to yesterday's release, saying it shows the FBI had no new evidence to reopen the investigation. “It is salt in the wound to see FBI rationale was this flimsy” and “Comey’s intrusion on the election was as utterly unjustified as we suspected at time.”
Just a day earlier, Bill Clinton blamed his wife's loss in part on what he called the “bogus e-mails” and the FBI.
BILL CLINTON: We had the Russians and the FBI deal, which she couldn’t prevail against that.
(...)
