FBI Director James Comey held a press conference in which he revealed that the FBI would not be recommending prosecution of Hillary Clinton for the mishandling of classified information. Comey noted that Clinton acted with carelessness regarding the handling of the information but did not have appropriate “intent” to prosecute.
Although charges will likely not be filed in the case, the press conference did prove damaging to Clinton, as the Republican National Committee jumped on the opportunity to paint Clinton as a serial liar and untrustworthy presidential candidate. The RNC highlighted the “lies” Clinton has told over the past year by placing Clinton’s previous statements about the email scandal side-by-side with that of the FBI’s in a new anti-Hillary ad.
The Republican National Committee had a heyday with FBI Director James Comey’s Clinton email press conference footage. The RNC created a video and posted it to their YouTube account that showcased the alleged lies made by Hillary Clinton at a press conference on March 10, 2015, in which she discussed the email scandal. The RNC took statements from Clinton’s press conference and placed them side-by-side with statements made by Comey during the FBI press conference. The group outlined five different supposed lies that Clinton told at the press conference, including her statement that she “did not email any classified material to anyone” on her private server.
Clinton’s assertion that she did not send or receive any classified materials on her private server is now coming back to haunt her as the FBI has revealed that 110 emails contained information that was classified at the time it was sent.
“110 emails in 52 email chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information.”
However, the RNC didn’t stop their attacks regarding the sending of classified information. The group also pointed out that Hillary told the public that she had only used one personal device to send emails from her personal server. Clinton claimed it was simply easier to use one device to send both work and personal emails and that she was trying to streamline. However, the FBI seemed to refute that claim by noting Clinton used “numerous mobile devices” to both view and send emails from her private server.
@HillaryClinton Hillary strategy is to Lie, Lie, Lie, then laugh about it. pic.twitter.com/t6d3bbCip8
— MAGS-4-TRUMP2016 (@magnifier661) July 6, 2016
It isn’t just the RNC that is using the FBI press conference footage to blast Hillary Clinton as a liar. The America Rising PAC is also using the footage in conjunction with several news clips that feature Clinton telling the public she never sent or received confidential emails on her personal server, a claim that has now been thoroughly refuted by the FBI.
Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is also using the press conference footage to attack Clinton. Trump sent a series of tweets calling Clinton “crooked” for lying to the public about her use of a private email server to send classified information.
Crooked Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI and to the people of our country. She is sooooo guilty. But watch, her time will come!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
The rigged system may have helped Hillary Clinton escape criminal charges, but… https://t.co/KO64IAMDgj pic.twitter.com/8CBSfNpl2l
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
Crooked Hillary has once again been proven to be a person who is dishonest, incompetent and of very bad judgement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
Crooked Hillary Clinton is unfit to serve as President of the U.S. Her temperament is weak and her opponents are strong. BAD JUDGEMENT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
According to the International Business Times , though Clinton appears to have escaped prosecution for the mishandling of the classified information, the FBI press conference may prove detrimental to her campaign . Following James Comey’s statements, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump has dropped from double digits to just five points.
“The USA Today/Suffolk poll, which surveyed 1,000 likely voters from June 26 to June 29 with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, shows Clinton with a 45.6 percent to 40.4 percent lead. The same poll two months ago showed a score of 50 points to 39 points in favor Clinton.”
Do you think the latest RNC and Republican PAC ads will hurt Hillary’s campaign further? Do you think Hillary Clinton lied about the email scandal or was she truly unaware that she had sent confidential information over her private email server? What do you think about the newest attack ads?
[Photo by Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP Image]
