On Thursday, both NBC’s Today and CBS This Morning hyped an effort by Democrats to provide “smoking gun” evidence that former Secretary of State Colin Powell was to blame for Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal. Reporters on the morning shows dutifully used the story to distract from Clinton being hammered over the scandal during Wednesday’s Commander-in-Chief Forum.
On Today, co-host Matt Lauer touted: “A top Democrat releasing an exchange that Clinton had with former Secretary of State Colin Powell on the use of personal e-mail on the job.” Correspondent Kristen Welker followed: “Democratic lawmakers are hoping that that newly released e-mail exchange will show that former Secretary of State Colin Powell advised Secretary Clinton on how to use her personal e-mail...”
Welker acknowledged that Clinton had faced “more tough questions about her use of a private e-mail server during NBC's Commander-in-Chief Forum,” but quickly changed the subject:
...just moments before Clinton took the stage, House Democrats, led by longtime Clinton supporter Elijah Cummings, released an extensive 2009 e-mail chain between Clinton and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, dated two days after Clinton took office. Cummings calling the exchange “a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records.”
The obvious question would be why Clinton sought out and used “a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records,” but instead, Welker summarized the exchange and wondered: “Is it a so-called smoking gun for Clinton, who has repeatedly pointed to her predecessor's use of a private e-mail to justify her own actions?”
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On CBS This Morning, co-host Gayle King declared: “We’re getting a new look at the e-mails between Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Colin Powell before she used private servers for State Department business.” Correspondent Nancy Cordes complained about the NBC event: “So this was a national security forum, but questions about Clinton's e-mails took up about a third of her time.” She then asserted: “This new e-mail from Powell was released just as she was taking the stage and it indicates that he and she shared similar motivations for using a private account.”
The headline on-screen throughout the report told viewers: “Powell’s Account; Fmr. Sec’y Told Clinton How to Use Private Email.” Cordes similarly laid blame on Powell: “House Democrats released a long 2009 e-mail to Clinton from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, describing an approach to e-mail Clinton would go on to emulate.” She highlighted how “Clinton has always argued that she was just following the lead set by others.”
Wrapping up the segment, she recited an attack line from Congressman Cummings: “In a statement, Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings said ‘If Republicans were truly concerned with transparency, they would be attempting to recover Secretary Powell's e-mails from AOL.’”
Cordes only briefly explained the glaring differences between Powell and Clinton:
But there are a few key differences between his actions and Clinton's. The State Department was a technological backwater when he arrived in 2001, with a clunky e-mail system. By the time Clinton arrived in 2009, the system had improved and the rules governing the preservation of e-mails were much more rigorous.
In a segment following the report, Bloomberg Politics editor John Heilemann argued that members of the Clinton campaign “feel as though they get some vindication from this e-mail because of course, you know, she has insisted that she followed Powell's lead....so at least it gives some credence to the notion that she was following Powell in her mind.”
However, he added: “...it does not vindicate, you know, if you think she was sloppy about handling classified material – which I think a lot of people do – by setting up this home server. She went way farther than Powell did, she still did an unprecedented thing....all of the things that Colin Powell did, he did not go and set up a server in his home...”
Here are full transcripts of the September 9 reports from Welker and Cordes:
Today
7:06 AM ET
MATT LAUER: Also this morning, there are some new developments tied to that e-mail controversy for Hillary Clinton. A top Democrat releasing an exchange that Clinton had with former Secretary of State Colin Powell on the use of personal e-mail on the job. NBC's Kristen Welker has more on that. Kristen, good morning to you.
KRISTEN WELKER: Matt, good morning to you. Democratic lawmakers are hoping that that newly released e-mail exchange will show that former Secretary of State Colin Powell advised Secretary Clinton on how to use her personal e-mail, but so far, it's done very little to quiet the criticism.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Powell-Clinton Email Exchange Revealed; Dems Release Back and Forth Over Controversial Server]
Hillary Clinton facing more tough questions about her use of a private e-mail server during NBC's Commander-in-Chief Forum Wednesday night.
HILLARY CLINTON: I communicated about classified material on a wholly separate system. I took it very seriously.
WELKER: But just moments before Clinton took the stage, House Democrats, led by longtime Clinton supporter Elijah Cummings, released an extensive 2009 e-mail chain between Clinton and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, dated two days after Clinton took office. Cummings calling the exchange “a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records.”
In the chain, Clinton asks Powell about restrictions on using a Blackberry. Powell responds, "I didn't have a blackberry. What I did do was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line." Noting he communicated with a “wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department servers” and “even used it do business with some foreign leaders.” Powell also warned Clinton about the dangers of using a Blackberry because data on the PDA could become part of the official record, subject to the law. “Be very careful,” he said, “I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data.”
Is it a so-called smoking gun for Clinton, who has repeatedly pointed to her predecessor's use of a private e-mail to justify her own actions?
CLINTON: As I’ve said, and has now has come out, my predecessors did the same thing and many other people in the government.
WELKER: Clinton told the FBI about her 2009 exchange with Powell, prompting a rebuke from the former general. Powell telling People magazine in August, Clinton's people are “trying to pin it on me.” The Clinton campaign stresses she told the FBI Powell's advice did not affect her decision. Still, the ongoing controversy providing fodder for Donald Trump.
TRUMP: She deletes 33,000 e-mails, and that’s after getting a subpoena from Congress. If you do that in private business, you get thrown in jail.
WELKER: Powell declined to comment on this story to NBC News. The State Department said it couldn't offer any further insights into this new e-mail exchange, but highlighted Secretary Clinton's testimony to the FBI in which she indicated she did not use her personal e-mail as a way to avoid government oversight. Matt, Savannah?
LAUER: Alright, Kristen, thanks very much.
CBS This Morning
7:06 AM ET
GAYLE KING: We’re getting a new look at the e-mails between Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Colin Powell before she used private servers for State Department business. Clinton asked Powell in early 2009 for advice about her e-mails. Powell told Clinton he used a system that avoided government servers. He warned, quote, “There is real danger, be very careful. I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data.” Nancy Cordes is covering the e-mail controversy, which came up during last night's forum. Nancy, good morning.
NANCY CORDES: Good morning. So this was a national security forum, but questions about Clinton's e-mails took up about a third of her time. This new e-mail from Powell was released just as she was taking the stage and it indicates that he and she shared similar motivations for using a private account.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Powell’s Account; Fmr. Sec’y Told Clinton How to Use Private Email]
JOHN LESTER: Had I communicated this information not following prescribed protocols, I would have been prosecuted and imprisoned.
CORDES: Clinton told a Navy veteran that the material she sent and received on her private e-mail system wasn't sensitive enough to merit the punishment he described.
HILLARY CLINTON: There were no headers, there was no statement, “Top Secret,” “Secret,” or “Confidential.” I communicated about classified material on a wholly separate system. I took it very seriously.
CORDES: It came on the same day that House Democrats released a long 2009 e-mail to Clinton from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, describing an approach to e-mail Clinton would go on to emulate. “What I did do is have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient.),” Powell wrote, “so I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department's servers.”
CLINTON: Secretary Powell and close aides to former Secretary Rice used private e-mail accounts.
CORDES: Clinton has always argued that she was just following the lead set by others.
CLINTON: My predecessors did the same thing and many other people in the government.
CORDES: Powell sought to distance himself from the controversy last month, telling People magazine, “Her people have been trying to pin it on me” and insisting Clinton was using her private server “for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did.” But the newly released e-mail was sent just days after Clinton started her new job.
In a statement, Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings said “If Republicans were truly concerned with transparency, they would be attempting to recover Secretary Powell's e-mails from AOL.” Powell has said he didn't save those e-mails. But there are a few key differences between his actions and Clinton's. The State Department was a technological backwater when he arrived in 2001, with a clunky e-mail system. By the time Clinton arrived in 2009, the system had improved and the rules governing the preservation of e-mails were much more rigorous.
CHARLIE ROSE: Thanks, Nancy.
