On Fox News Sunday, President Barack Obama told Chris Wallace that he did not believe that Hillary Clinton did anything to jeopardize national security.
“Here’s what I know: Hillary Clinton was an outstanding secretary of state. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy,” Obama said. “And what I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information – there is classified and then there’s classified. There’s stuff that is really top secret, top secret. And then there’s stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state that you might not want on the transom or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you can get in open sources.”
Wallace pressed him to get unequivocal, and the president gladly obliged.
“I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America’s national security,” he said, though he admitted that Hillary had demonstrated “carelessness” in handling her emails.
Wallace then asked if he could guarantee the American people that Hillary would not be given special treatment.
“I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI — not just in this case, but in any case,” Obama said.
The problem, of course, is that by going on television and essentially proclaiming Hillary Clinton innocent of any wrongdoing, Obama is exerting political influence. He may not be directing Attorney General Loretta Lynch to exonerate her, but he is clearly using the presidential bully pulpit to guide the investigation. If Obama had any uncertainty at all about how this was going to turn out, he would not put his own reputation on the line by giving Clinton blanket coverage.
Still, it’s a little amusing to watch the talking heads express so much shock over the president’s remarks. Kudos to them for actually daring to question Obama’s motivations – it only took 7 1/2 years – but this is a pretty funny time to do it. You would have to search for a long time to find a single American – Republican or Democrat – who honestly believes that Hillary will be indicted. Some may genuinely believe that she did nothing wrong, but most know that her actual guilt or innocence is immaterial. Even if the Obama administration had set the gold standard for law and order, no one would expect the presumed Democratic nominee to be prosecuted by the current Democratic president.
She won’t be. And if Obama is out there confidently defending her (despite supposedly having no inside knowledge of the investigation), it proves that the fix is in.
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