Team Hillary Struggles to Deflect, Downplay FBI Bombshell

Hillary Clinton campaign Chair John Podesta and campaign manager Robby Mook struggled to defend the Democratic nominee in the wake of a bombshell revelation from the FBI Friday — the pair of top advisers at times contradicted each other.

Clinton allies and the Democratic Establishment have struggled to generate a unified message to deflect the political damage caused by FBI Director James Comey’s announcement Friday that the bureau had reopened its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

“Podesta and Mook gave conflicting answers, were forced to defend the campaign’s false statements … and embarrassingly could not state one specific thing Clinton has learned from her email scandal.”

“The American people got another preview of what a Hillary Clinton presidency would be like, with her top aides scrambling to deflect damaging new revelations in a major scandal involving her reckless and dishonest conduct,” Michael Short, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement Sunday.

When Podesta appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper cornered him and asked, “Do you accept the fundamental premise that the reason we’re here is because Hillary Clinton and her inner circle, not including you, made a horrible decision to set up her private email server and everything that has happened since then is her fault?”

Podesta stumbled over his answer as he attempted to deflect to how Clinton has “apologized” for her mistake in setting up an email server and has said “she wouldn’t do it over again.”

“I think she — you know, it’s very clear that this has been an issue through the course of this campaign,” Podesta said. “I think she obviously would like to take that decision back, but she’s learned from it, and I think what’s important about this campaign at this stage with nine days to go is who’s fit to be president, who has the experience, and the question of whether Donald Trump is too dangerous, too temperamentally unfit to be president of the United States.”

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When Tapper asked Podesta if he had asked top Clinton aide Huma Abedin why she did not turn over the computer now being reviewed by the FBI as part of the Judicial Watch lawsuit against her, Podesta struggled to defend his earlier claims that Abedin had cooperated fully with the investigators.

“So as part of this Judicial Watch lawsuit, Huma Abedin had to testify under oath, and she said ‘I looked for all the devices that may have had any of my State Department work on it and returned, gave them to my attorneys for them to review for all relevant documents, and gave them devices and paper,'” Tapper said. “Obviously this other computer was not included in that group. Have you asked Huma Abedin why she did not turn over this computer that is now being reviewed by the FBI?”

Podesta again attempted to deflect the question, saying that Abedin has been “completely cooperative” and that the media are prone to “speculate.”

“I’m not speculating, sir. Our reporting — our reporting is that it was a laptop computer that belonged to Anthony Weiner, and they found State Department emails on that laptop. That’s reporting, that’s not speculation. You have access to Huma Abedin. I don’t,” Tapper responded.

“I don’t think she knows anything more than what we’ve seen in the press to date,” Podesta said, “So you know, I’m sure if the, you know, if people, proper authorities want to ask her questions, they’ll ask her questions — but she’s been fully cooperative in this investigation.”

Mook also tried to paint the situation as murky and the facts as elusive on “Fox News Sunday” with host Chris Wallace.

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Wallace asked him if Clinton herself had approached Abedin to ask her about the emails on her computer.

“Well, Chris, the problem with what you’re saying there is we don’t know. We don’t know where these emails are from,” Mook responded. “You’re making an inference it could have been Huma Abedin. Your guess is as good as anyone. This is why [FBI] Director Comey needs to get all the information out there.”

Wallace pressed Mook.

“I’m asking you a direct question. Has Secretary Clinton asked Huma Abedin what was on that laptop that she shared with her husband Anthony Weiner?” Wallace pressed.

“She hasn’t because you just offered a hypothetical on the table,” Mook said. “Chris, again, I appreciate your question because people want answers … Again, you’re putting out some hypotheticals. There are other hypotheticals that have been put out there.”

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With just nine days left until Nov. 8, the Clinton campaign has little time to generate a strong set of talking points to stop the bleeding the bombshell revelation could cause.

“While her campaign would rather launch hypocritical attacks on the FBI director they once praised, the fact of the matter is Hillary Clinton only has herself to blame for this mess” Short, the RNC spokesman, said in his statement. “She alone chose to skirt government transparency laws and expose highly classified information with her use of an unsecure, unauthorized private server.”

Steve Guest, deputy press secretary for the RNC, added in an email along with Short’s statement that Clinton’s top two aides’ Sunday shows performance “wasn’t pretty.”

“Podesta and Mook gave conflicting answers, were forced to defend the campaign’s false statements about the FBI’s letter to Congress, and embarrassingly could not state one specific thing Clinton has learned from her email scandal,” Guest said in the statement.