Hillary Clinton’s appearance at the Commander-in-Chief Forum held by NBC News and MSNBC Wednesday night started off a series of misleading memorized talking points to evade leveling with the American people on the key details of her ongoing private email server.

Among the political gymnastics was an attempt by the Democratic nominee to share blame for the scandal with everyone who corresponded with her on the private email server she had set up in her basement by her closest aides.

In hiding behind the absence of classified “headers,” Clinton is able to repeat her previously, now proven false, talking points with only the slight addition of the phrase “had such a header.”

Clinton said the private email server she used was also used by hundreds and hundreds of users.

“I just respectfully point to the hundreds of experienced foreign policy experts, diplomats, defense officials who were communicating information on the unclassified system,” Clinton said, “it was necessary to answer questions and to be able publicly to go as far as we could.”

Of course officials were emailing on the unclassified system specifically because she, as a cabinet level secretary in the U.S. government, has set up the server and many were her subordinates or likely were unaware they were emailing on a private system.

NBC then handed the microphone over Lt. John Lester, a Republican and a retired Navy flight officer to address her assertions she never sent or received classified material.

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Lester said he had top secret clearance and handled secret materials.

“Had I communicated this information not following proscribed protocols, I would have been prosecuted and imprisoned,” Lester said, “Secretary Clinton, how can you expect those such as myself who were and are trusted with America’s most sensitive information to have any confidence in your leadership as president when you clearly corrupted our national security?”

Appearing visibly frustrated with the continued questions on the issue that dominated the first ten minutes of the forum, Clinton opted for semantics.

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“Let me try to make the distinctions that I think are important for me to answer your questions,” Clinton said.

“Classified material has a header which says, ‘Top Secret,’ ‘Secret,’ ‘Confidential.’ Nothing — and I will — I will repeat this,” Clinton said, “none of the emails sent or received by me had such a header.”

Of course Clinton must know she is deliberately misleading the public.

The released documents from the FBI’s investigation and testimony from FBI Director James Comey have extensively documented the existence of materials that were classified at the time they were sent and received by Clinton.

In hiding behind the absence of classified “headers,” Clinton is able to repeat her previously, now proven false, talking points with only the slight addition of the phrase “had such a header.”

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Clinton’s classified emails on the private server did not have classified “headers” because they instead were emails where sections were marked classified with use of “portion markers,” a common practice when parts of emails, not entire documents, are classified.

It’s why the little “Cs,” that Clinton claimed in an interview with investigators she believed to be organizational notations, appeared on sections of the emails, and why they didn’t have the headers.

When FBI Director Comey ended the agency’s investigation into Clinton’s email server, he said 110 emails in 52 email chains had been determined to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received. Eight of those chains contained information that was top secret at the time they were sent.

Lauer then pressed Clinton by bringing up the drone issue, which is a top secret program. Clinton responded that even the FBI mentioned the drone program in their report of the FBI interview with Clinton.