July 13, 2015

Here's a question I'd like to see at least one reporter in our corporate media ask any of these Republicans who continue to do what House Speaker John Boehner did on this Sunday's Face the Nation. Just what do you or anyone on Trey Gowdy's Benghazi committee think you're going to learn that isn't just pure political fodder, and that we don't know already even if you and your colleagues had full access to every one of Hillary Clinton's work related and personal emails during her time as Secretary of State?

Of course that's not what happened in the interview above, where host John Dickerson did his best to help Boehner perpetuate the right wing lie that Hillary Clinton deleted her private emails after being subpoenaed by Republicans.

It's obvious Republicans are going to drag this out for every ounce of political fodder they can get out of it, continue to demand that they have access to her private email server that I assume doesn't even exist any more, and continue to try to make the public believe there must be something nefarious about what led to the death of our ambassador in Libya, and that Clinton and the Obama administration must have something to hide if they don't want Trey Gowdy and his buddies in the GOP to be allowed to go in a fishing expedition and read every email she ever sent while serving as Secretary of State.

I tell you what John. How about you release every work related and private email you've ever sent since being elected to Congress? I'm sure the public would love to know just how many lobbyists and political donors are influencing your actions as a member of Congress, just like back in the day when you were handing out bribes from the tobacco industry on the House floor. What do you say John? You know what they say about what's good for the goose and all.

I won't hold my breath while I wait for an answer.

Here's the transcript of the shameful exchange via CBS:

DICKERSON: I want to ask you a question about Hillary Clinton. She gave an interview on CNN this week, talked about the issue of her e-mails.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everything I did was permitted by law and regulations. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DICKERSON: What was your response to that interview?

BOEHNER: Our committees asked for her e-mails going back to 2012. And we have been rolled and rolled and held off and held off now for over three years.

The e-mails need to come forward. We have got this investigation with regard to what happened in Benghazi. Four Americans died there. We still don't have the answers because the administration and Secretary Clinton refuse to turn over the relevant documents for the American people to see.

We are not going to walk away from this. And the State Department is rolling these e-mails that they do have over to us at rate of about 4,000 a month. This is going to go on throughout the rest of this year.

DICKERSON: What did you make of her description about these e- mails, though?

BOEHNER: She has got an obligation to turn over all of the e- mails.

DICKERSON: She said she didn't. She said she didn't have to.

BOEHNER: Well, she's wrong. She had...

(CROSSTALK)

DICKERSON: She's not telling the truth?

BOEHNER: She is not telling the truth. She had an obligation to turn these e-mails over.

And the fact is the I.G. at the State Department -- we go through these e-mails and make the determinations like they do anyplace else on what's official and what isn't.

DICKERSON: Are you going to take action to subpoena that server? That's what some people would like to see.

BOEHNER: I'm not going to rule in or out any of those options. I would hope we wouldn't have to do that.

She wants this investigation over, she wants this all to be cleaned up, but the fact is, it's not going to be cleaned up until they get the e-mails. I would hope they would turn them over or the State Department would go after the server.

Congress doesn't want the server. The State Department I.G. is the appropriate group of people to go through these e-mails, to make those determinations.

DICKERSON: But I thought Congress does want the server. Trey Gowdy said that he needs your help to get the server. If you're saying you have been rolled for three years and you say that...

(CROSSTALK)

BOEHNER: What Trey Gowdy is saying is that the State Department I.G. is the appropriate agency to decide what e-mails are government property and what are not.

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