White House Press Secretary Dodges Questions on Clinton Email Scandal
A report by the State Department’s inspector general revealed that Hillary Clinton refused the use of her government-issued email to avoid making her personal records “accessible.”
The report further went on to state that Clinton’s decision to maintain the use of her personal email account, as it pertained to official government use, not only presented a threat to national security, but ignored multiple warnings in the process.
Now, even the White House is refusing to defend the Democratic presidential candidate’s actions, as White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest opted to dodge questions at a press conference Tuesday, directing reporters to the Clinton campaign instead.
“I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to offer some reaction [to the report],” began a reporter. “It was clear that she did not … seek approval, that she never demonstrated that her BlackBerry met minimum requirements, security information requirements. Does the president still stand by the statement that he’s certain that Clinton did not endanger national security?”
“The president certainly stands by what he has said in the past on this,” responded Earnest, before pivoting. “When the president was given the opportunity to talk about this in Asia, he referred questions to Secretary Clinton’s campaign. They can obviously discuss the decisions that she made as secretary of state, as they relate to her use of email.”
Earnest was later asked if the White House believes Clinton should have cooperated with the Inspector General’s Office in its investigation, to which Earnest continued to deflect.
“Does the White House think she should have participated and cooperated in the IG investigation?” the reporter went on to ask.
“Well again, I’d refer you to Secretary Clinton’s team for how she handled those questions,” said Earnest, adding that the State Department has since changed its methods of record keeping to be in compliance with the IG’s recommendations. (For more from the author of “White House Press Secretary Dodges Questions on Clinton Email Scandal” please click HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
