Good morning everyone! Happy Wednesday to you!
Joining us for today's show, we have: Mark Halperin, Fmr. Gov. Ed Rendell, Al Hunt, Ron Fournier, Bill Kristol, Marc Morial, Benjamin Hall, Ben Smith, Mike Barnicle, Sen. Tim Kaine, Andrea Mitchell, Charles C.W. Cooke, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Brian Sullivan, Rep. Trey Gowdy, Sallie Krawcheck, Ann Curry, Paige McKenzie, Tina Tchen and more
The weather has officially broke to be warm on the East Coast of the United States and The Deleter of the Free World (Hilary Clinton) decides on her own what email address she gets to turn over to the State Department and for everyone to review. She did finally speak about it at a major press conference yesterday at the UN. And I personally think she did well. Hillary Clinton on Wednesday asked the State Department to release the emails she sent from her personal account during her term as Secretary of State. But a State Department spokesperson told ABC News it will be "several months" before the emails are released, because the department will need time to review the emails and remove sensitive and personal information.
“I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible,” Clinton wrote on Twitter Wednesday night..
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf, in a statement that followed Clinton's tweet, said the department is focused on reviewing Clinton's emails.
"The State Department will review for public release the emails provided by Secretary Clinton to the Department, using a normal process that guides such releases,” the statement reads. “We will undertake this review as quickly as possible; given the sheer volume of the document set, this review will take some time to complete.”
Clinton’s team submitted 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department, but an unknown number of emails that do not pertain to work will not be turned over, a Clinton aide told ABC News. The storage of Clinton’s email has come under scrutiny after a New York Times report revealed she used a personal, non-governmental email address to conduct official business as secretary of state. The Associated Press reported Tuesday Clinton used a personal server based in her New York home to host her emails.
Clinton, 67, used only one email address during her tenure, her attorney David Kendall wrote in an email to the House Select Committee, which is tasked with investigating the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi,Libya. The committee sent subpoenas to the State Department Wednesday requesting all of Clinton's communications related to Libya.
“The Select Committee on Benghazi today issued subpoenas for all communications of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton related to Libya and to the State Department for other individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation,” Jamal Ware, communications director for the committee, wrote in a statement. “The Committee also has issued preservation letters to internet firms informing them of their legal obligation to protect all relevant documents.”
The email account that Clinton used while working at the State Department was hdr22@clintonemail.com and was traced to a server based out of Chappaqua, New York, where she and former President Bill Clinton have a home, ABC News confirmed. ABC News also learned that another email domain, wjcoffice.com, which used the former president's initials as their descriptor, was also based out of Chappaqua. That domain was registered by an individual called Eric Hoteham, the same name used to register the clintonemail.com domain.
Clinton has yet to explain why she used her own server and personal email, instead of a State Department email address to comply with federal record-keeping requirements.
Hillary Clinton used a personal email account exclusively while serving as secretary of state, and may have violated federal requirements, the New York Times reported late Monday. According to the Times, Clinton did not have a government email address during her four years at the State Department, and her aides took no action to preserve her emails – which is required by law under the Federal Records Act.
These new revelations raise questions about transparency, legality, and certainly security. It is not clear whether any encryption protection existed on her private email account, as is required on government emails.
Clinton's personal spokesman, Nick Merrill, issued a statement in response to the New York Times report.
"Like Secretaries of State before her, she used her own email account when engaging with any Department officials. For government business, she emailed them on their Department accounts, with every expectation they would be retained. When the Department asked former Secretaries last year for help ensuring their emails were in fact retained, we immediately said yes," the statement reads.
"Both the letter and spirit of the rules permitted State Department officials to use non-government email, as long as appropriate records were preserved. As a result of State¹s request for our help to make sure they in fact were, that is what happened here. As the Department stated, it is in the process of updating its record preservation policies to bring them in line with its retention responsibilities."
In an effort to comply with federal record-keeping laws, aides to the former secretary of state turned over 55,000 emails to the State Department two months ago, according to the Times report.
"The State Department has long had access to a wide array of Secretary Clinton's records – including emails between her and Department officials with state.gov accounts. Last year, the Department sent a letter to representatives of former secretaries of state requesting they submit any records in their possession for proper preservation as part of our effort to continually improve our records preservation and management," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told ABC News in a statement early Tuesday. "In response to our request, Secretary Clinton provided the Department with emails spanning her time at the Department. After the State Department reviewed those emails, last month the State Department produced about 300 emails responsive to recent requests from the Select Committee."
"From the moment that the Select Committee was created, the State Department has been proactively and consistently engaged in responding to the Committee's many requests in a timely manner, providing more than 40,000 pages of documents, scheduling more than 20 transcribed interviews and participating in several briefings and each of the Committee's hearings," the statement continued.
The State Department also says they are in the process of updating their records preservation policies to bring them up to speed with 2013 National Archives and Records Administration guidance. "These steps include regularly archiving all of Secretary Kerry's emails to ensure that we are capturing all federal records," Harf said.
Kerry is the first secretary of state to rely primarily on a state.gov email account.
The matter is expected to become a campaign issue. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a potential 2016 candidate for the White House, released more than 275,000 emails last month from his time as governor in the name of "transparency." Bush tweeted late Monday "Transparency matters. Unclassified @HillaryClinton emails should be released. You can see mine, here. Jebbushemails.com."
After news spread that Hillary Clinton relied exclusively on a personal email account while she served as secretary of state, the House Select Committee on Benghazi has sent subpoenas to the State Department today explicitly requesting all of her communications related to Libya.
“The Select Committee on Benghazi today issued subpoenas for all communications of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton related to Libya and to the State Department for other individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation,” Jamal Ware, communications director for the committee, wrote in a statement. “The Committee also has issued preservation letters to internet firms informing them of their legal obligation to protect all relevant documents.”
The documents are the latest request from Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the committee, as his investigation into the deadly attack continues.
“You do not need a law degree to have an understanding of how troubling this is,” Gowdy told reporters. “There are chain of custody issues, there are preservation of materials and documents issues ... there are best evidence issues, in addition to asking about archives and what safeguards may have been in place to protect this information."
While Gowdy stressed that Clinton had “more than one” private email account that she used during her tenure at the State Department, her lawyer wrote the committee today hoping to clear up any misconception.
“Secretary Clinton used one email account when corresponding with anyone, from Department officials to friends to family,” Clinton’s attorney David E. Kendall wrote in an email to the committee. "A month after she left the Department, Gawker published her email address and so she changed the address on her account. At the time, the emails were provided to the Department last year this new address appeared on the copies as the ‘sender,’ and not the address she used as Secretary. This address on the account did not exist until March 2103 [sic], after her tenure as Secretary.”
Nevertheless, Ware maintained that “the Select Committee on Benghazi is in possession of records with two separate and distinct email addresses used by former Secretary Clinton and dated during the time she was Secretary of State.”
"Without access to the relevant electronic information and stored data on the server -- which was reportedly registered to her home -- there is no way the Committee, or anyone else, can fully explain why the Committee uncovered two email addresses,” Ware said in a statement. “As Chairman Gowdy has noted, this is why former Secretary Clinton’s exclusive use of personal emails to conduct official U.S. government business is so problematic and raises significant issues for transparency. The American people have a right to a full accounting of all the former Secretary’s emails, and the Committee is committed to working to uncover all the facts.”
Gowdy said the committee discovered the existence of Clinton’s personal email accounts after obtaining documents late last summer that had not been previously produced to any committee investigating the deadly terrorist attack.
"The fact is the State Department cannot certify they have produced all of former Secretary Clinton’s emails because they do not have all of former Secretary Clinton’s emails, nor do they control access to them,” Gowdy said. “The State Department is relying on Secretary Clinton herself and her attorneys and advisors to tell us and to tell you what emails they think are to be preserved.”
Asked whether he still intends to call on Clinton to testify at the committee, Gowdy suggested the emails will lead to an invitation for the former Secretary of State to sit down behind closed doors with committee investigators.
“This revelation, which we’ve known about which has now been made public, may well lay the ground work for additional conversations with the secretary in some setting or another,” he said.
Now, will this transcend to stick outside the beltway, the panel says no and I say no too but she may have to deal with it a bunch during the next election (I doubt that Dem's will lash out about it during those primary debates, but the GOP will). I just think its a foreshadow into the way she may govern and run the White House administration. I do understand where she is at with regard to her not wanting the genreal public, let alone the State department to show her Yoga schedule (so to speak) and whatnot, but still, like I said above while posting that report about it, it is still going to allow things like the Benghazi issue to stay alive. Case in pint is that Trey Gowdy is saying that he plans on having private hearings and public hearings with her (Hilary). That is my problem. That was a dead issue till now (last week) and I do NOT want to rehash the Benghazi issue ever again. This opens that door in never ending ways. BTW, before I forget, ABC News’ John Parkinson and Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.
Morning Papers: The city manager resigned in Ferguson, MI. Someone in the Romania Government features a graphic of a German map inside the state of Romania by mistake, in some diplomat meeting. Tim Burton gets the nod by Disney to do another Dumbo movie. NY Times reports that the city (they are allowed as pets in the state, but it is not allowed in the city) will upkeep it law to ban ferrets as a pet.
Coming Up is Bill Kristol and Marc Morial together offset things on the panel and on the set. We will see how this goes while we discuss the continued fall out (two kids were suspended yesterday) at the University of Oklahoma and actually, the kids are expelled from the school. They did issue an apology for whatever that was worth but they are gone from the school. The Frat House was shut down and they had until midnight last night to clear out everything from that house. Someone whom was not show her identity said they did that same chant on some bus ride two years ago. Unreal.
Anyway, Inside ISIS. The author of that book is on as it seems like we have made some huge ground in defeating it. They show footage of our allies blowing up some facilities and also, NBC News reports the latest ISIS recruitment video features “two deaf and mute fighters communicating in sign language in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate ‘normal’ life for everyone under the brutal terrorist group’s domination.”
The video’s odd title, “From Who Excused To Those Not Excused,” is evidently meant to convey that everyone gets a job in the Islamic State, including those with disabilities. Thesubtitles boast of how “we, the deaf and mute, direct our message to the Islamic world.”
In sign language, the deaf-mute brothers featured in the video encourage all Muslims to join the Islamic State, which they claim is “expanding.” They are shown directing traffic while wearing military garb and carrying rifles, projecting the appearance of comfortable cosmopolitan life inside ISIS territory. They claim “Muslim women and children” were “living in security in Mosul” until the “criminal” Kurdish Peshmerga began attacking them. Later in the video, they are depicted firing rockets at Kurdish positions and looking enormously pleased with themselves. It’s not clear exactly where or when the video was filmed or if there were actually Kurds on the receiving end of the brothers’s little rocket barrage.
What is next this AM?
More talk about the Oklahoma Fall out so far.
Who talks and raps about hanging people? Jay Z? I assume he is telling a story about American and World History.
Whatever. Hilary Clinton denounces the letter written up by the Congress members they had sent to the Government officials in Iran. She says that the senators are 'out of step' and Joe and Mika are getting at it towards each other on the set. I liked what she (Hilary) had said yesterday about it. I liked her speech as a whole. It was nice and slow being concise which I forgot that is how she does speeches. I feel like I have not heard from her in so long.
I must ask it again but who is saying that this potential Iran deal with us is going over the Congress and into being some type of a law? It was stupid on so many levels. The Dem's are rallying around the Administration and it is completely backfiring on the GOP. Bill Krystal is saying idiotic things and regardless of the content and terms in those negotiations, no one should be sending letters to the Iranian Government at this time before the talks of that deal are done. If they have an issue with regard to the deal, they should have used our laws and our government process to deal with it in a fair way. They do not want to do it and as Al Hunt says, it was dumb. The only thing it exposed is that the GOP are a bunch of babies that act like Bam Bam (Flinstones).
And, whomever that met with Noriega and whomever sent letters apologizing for the Iran Contra scandal was not doing it to undermine the POTUS at that time (Ronald Reagan). It was done in the aftermath of it. Which BTW, that was illegal what had been done then. What is being done today is a negotiation process. That is not even remotely the same thing.
They do NOT want to embarrass the POTUS per se, they want to undermine him and this Administration.
OK. Whew. That was hard to watch.
Tim Kaine is on and see what I mean? He makes no bones about that if there is some deal with Iran, it will be laid down on the table is the term he uses, and they will deal in a bi partisan way to either allow it or not. The POTUS is not doing some deal behind the Senate and House's backs again, so to speak. These GOPers that wrote this note acted like babies. I can safely say that they do NOT even care about a deal with Iran. It is just that anything the POTUS sets out to do, they want to undermine it to stop it in its tracks. That is whats up because god forbid we do a great deal with Iran. That would hurt their chances of winning in 2016. That is what this all about. It is so calculated. It is not even close to be normal let alone a good move for that GOP. The GOP sucks. They know it. We know it. And, the world knows it. Especially, now. This was such a dumb ass move for them to have done by sending that condescending letter to the officials in Iran. I am dying to know why they (GOP) think or thought that this deal would not have to be approved accordingly, by our congress.
Next guy on is someone I am not sure why because I like his ideals for the most part, but this guy talking about Libertarians, conservatives fight for the right, annoys the hell out of me. Charles W Cooke is his name. I also do not even care what he is saying. I am doing other work for a while until we talk about things that are based on fact. Oh. He is pushing a book. Maybe that is the name of his book. I wish this interested me but it does not for some bad reason. I have no attention span today. Today is already annoying for me. Maybe that is why I have no attention span for it.
And, what is it today? A show about the GOP and the far right's ideals? Which normally when I am not annoyed at things, would probably interest me but so much of what is being discussed today, is annoying the hell out of me. Regardless, Steny Hoyer is on soon and I just noticed that Trey Gowdy is going to be on today. Holy shit. I do NOT know if I can take it. I mentioned above how sick and tired i am about talking about the Benghazi issue. And, we have the head of that committee that is investigating Hilary's part in it on the show? That says it all about my life. But that is Hilary's fault for allowing the resurrection of that issue after she gets caught using her private email addresses for work related purposes.
Steny (Hoyer) is on now. He agrees with me (and Mika) about that part of GOP that wrote that letter, is sophomoric. I called them babies that act like Bam Bam from the Flinstones so we are right on but I just cannot articulate things as well as these Professional public speakers. And, here is Joe discussing the Iran Contra scandal in 1984 which again, was written after the investigation was done. It was not written during the investigation. No one then was trying to undermine the talks during some deal. They were apologizing for the way the USA and its officials acted and they apologized for the deaths caused by it. They did not say that when the Dem's get elected in 86 or whenever the Clinton was voted into office, that they would thwart any deal made by Reagan. It is NOT the same thing that was done in 1984 compared to what was done today with Iran. it is not even close to being the same type of letter content wise. The reason they did not accept any more monies, is because it had been done earlier with Reagan and Bush in illegal ways. Plus, they gave them arms and cocaine for things too. It was done to undermine the POTUS and it was not done to undermine any negotiation process. Joe is not being concise about it when relating the two issues.
I am exhausted today after this show. And, we are not even through the 8AM hour yet. Today's show is exhausting. Then again, I am juggling some important things today so I cannot blame it all on the show. I will say that thank whomever's god for Mark Halperin being on the show today. He totally rebutted so many things in that fair and balanced way. Everything else was skewed and he had to try so hard to talk over people to try to get that to a norm. Exhausting.
Don't we all agree about the Hilary email issue? I get that the aftermath of it since last Sunday was handled horribly but as Bob Frankel said today, it is the Clinton playbook to act this way. Remember when Bill denied sex? He said No 88 times before he admitted to it and even then he single handily made oral sex a non sexual act. That is what they do. They deny it until they have to admit to it. I also think that a bigger story about Hilary is how she did when she was in office. I do not think her taking money for her non profit can be made into scandal and these emails not being turned over is one to a point, but again, she did not break any law. Plus, that rule was enacted towards the middle of her stint as the Secretary Of State. And, honestly, she did well in her speech about that and about the Iran letter issue yesterday. I assume she will skate by it now. Whether she gets cracks about in some debate, that remains to be seen and she will have to be ready for it. She will need to reply because someone will lash at that more than lashing out about how she dealt with Libya. That is my feeling and that is my menial opinion about the email issue (I cannot call it a scandal). It is a lot easier to discuss the emails being MIA than it is to discuss what went down after the decisions made (or not made) in Libya.
Lets hear what Trey Gowdy has to say in the last half an hour segment and lets see whom is the Woman of the day is in that series that i cant remember off the top of my head (because i am exhausted from today's show). He basically said what we all knew was going to be said. He did not annoy me as much as I thought he would so that is a victory of sort. But man, Bill Kristol was unreasonable today. He interrupted like he tends to do and he talked over people like he tends to do and he was one big talking point which is how he tends to act. The last two times he was on the show, he was good. He was reasonable and real about things but today, he was on fire freaking out about something that was so wrong (the letter to the Iran Government)
OK. It is Woman who/that run things that features Sallie Krawcheck today. She's funny. When talking about men in the work place, she insists that she loves men and that she was married to a few of them.
Also, Ann Curry is on today to discuss some partnership or some program with New Jersey people with Syria. Ann did that great and telling interview last week with the Iranian Prime Minister. I missed this segment. My mom called but if its Ann doing it, I am sure it was done well.
Anyway and regardless of it all, please stay in touch!
