Thursday, September 3, 2015

How the Email Story is Out of Hillary Clinton's Control


First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

Another reminder of how the email story is out of Hillary's control

Last night's news that a former Clinton IT staffer who helped set up Hillary Clinton's private server is invoking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to testify before the House Benghazi committee is yet another reminder how this email story is out of her control. After all, what's in the best interests of the campaign (Team Clinton released a statement that they wanted the former aide, Bryan Pagliano, to testify) isn't necessarily in the best interests of everyone involved (Pagliano's lawyer certainly thought otherwise). And when that dynamic is at play, things are no longer in your hands. The other (and maybe more important) reminder about how this entire story is no longer in Hillary Clinton's control is the current FBI investigation into whether classified information was mishandled. That FBI investigation could potentially end tomorrow. Or it could end a year from now -- which would be politically problematic for the Clinton campaign. Bottom line: In sheer political terms, you have to hand it to House Republicans: They created a fishing expedition with their Benghazi committee. And maybe this email story doesn't turn out to be a marlin, but it's sure a nice grouper. 

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