I forget who, but someone in comments was complaining the other day about Hillary Clinton’s failure to apologize for eGhazi. Well, now she has: Clinton apologized for using a private email server during an ABC News interview last night. She also posted the following statement on her Facebook page:
I wanted you to hear this directly from me:
Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I’m sorry about it, and I take full responsibility.
It’s important for you to know a few key facts. My use of a personal email account was aboveboard and allowed under the State Department’s rules. Everyone I communicated with in government was aware of it. And nothing I ever sent or received was marked classified at the time.
As this process proceeds, I want to be as transparent as possible. That’s why I’ve provided all of my work emails to the government to be released to the public, and why I’ll be testifying in public in front of the Benghazi Committee later next month.
I know this is a complex story. I could have—and should have—done a better job answering questions earlier. I’m grateful for your support, and I’m not taking anything for granted.
I understand that you may have more questions, and I am going to work to keep answering them. If you want to read more, including my emails themselves, please go here:
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/emails/
Will this make her most vociferous detractors happy? Haha, no! If her goal is to please them, nothing short of dousing herself with kerosene and striking a match will do.
Basically, her position hasn’t changed — she’s still saying what she did was legal at the time, but now she’s sorry she did it. Earlier in the week, media outlets were jumping all over a CIA report that claims some of the emails were highly classified, but Clinton says the State Dept. and CIA often address the same issues and classify the same items differently, so she’s sticking to her original contention that none of the emails she sent or received were classified at the time.
Clinton has been dealing with wingnuts and otherwise politically affiliated haters for long enough to know an apology won’t change their minds, so what’s the point? I guess to lay down a marker for the media, which was starting to make the non-apology “a thing.” But certainly she knows the issue isn’t going away anytime soon, not with an upcoming guest appearance on Gowdy Doody Time on the schedule.
I am not now and never have been a huge Hillary Clinton fangrrrl, but I still think eGhazi is a nothingburger. However, as with all media chew toys (see Gore, Al), the substance of the accusation is irrelevant.
The question is whether the Beltway press can continue the scandal drumbeat well into 2016 in a way that sandbags Clinton’s candidacy. My guess is no, but I’m not 100% confident about that. What do you think?