Just to let the readers of C&L know, kerfuffles regarding emails and Hillary Clinton is just repeating a pattern of right wing behavior, from the same exact people, who did this in the 90's.
Here's proof:
There are currently two FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests pending in court regarding Hillary Clinton. The first seeks information "about the employment arrangements of a longtime aide to Clinton, Huma Abedin."
Yes, the right wing would love to get dirt on Huma Abedin. Not only is she the wife of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, a proud notch on their sword, but she is Muslim, and she works for Hillary and has for years. Three strikes.
The second, if you can believe it, is a request for documents...wait for it...related to the attack on Benghazi. Specifically, the FOIA seeks "records relating to talking points prepared for officials discussing the deadly attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012."
Talking points! Remember that nothing-burger from 2012? That was the ticking time bomb that was going to blow up the re-election of Barack Obama. Once the right wing got to the bottom of whether or not the Obama White House was actually going to call Benghazi a "terrorist attack" was the biggest deal for the longest time. Please proceed, Governor:
Sure, it didn't work for Mitt Romney, but this "Talking Points" baloney worked so well to hype up the consumers of right-wing media, and to distract the Beltway media, that to this day "failure to use the words" terrorism or Islamic terrorism is a sure sign that you are a Muslim Usurper Kenyan Benghazi Baby Parts Whitewater Vince Foster Killing Emailer, that's what you are! Chemtrails! Ron Paul 2012!
Okay, so who is filing these FOIA requests?
The Huma Abedin one is being requested by Judicial Watch, a right wing lawsuit tank supported by two foundations of the late Richard Mellon Scaife. Remember him?
Scaife was the major backer of The American Spectator, whose Arkansas Project set out to find facts about Clinton and in which Paula Jones' accusations of sexual harassment against Clinton were first widely publicized. On April 15, 1998, The New York Times revealed that Scaife had spent nearly $2 million on the project.
Politics is weird. Politico reported when Scaife died that "Scaife became enamored with [Bill] Clinton’s post-presidential philanthropic work on AIDS in Africa and other issues," The two became 'counterintuitive friends' and Bill Clinton actually spoke at his memorial service.
Who is looking for the "Benghazi talking points" documents via a FOIA request? Why, it's Judicial Watch! They're everywhere.
Judicial Watch is a conservative activist group that has been one of the organizations driving the media narrative on Hillary Clinton's emails. They have a history of dishonest activism, promoting conspiracy theories, and pushing false or misleading narratives.
The organization was formed in the 1990s by conspiracy theorist Larry Klayman, who used the technique of filing spurious lawsuits in an attempt to bring down the Clinton administration. It is now headed by Tom Fitton, who has continued Klayman's methods in an ongoing campaign to antagonize the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton, and other Democrats.
Yep, Filing harassing spurious lawsuits against the Clintons....
Because. That's. What. They. Do.
One last, but very important, point. The right wing cabal is very interested in making sure you know this email "scandal" with Hillary Clinton is being investigated by the FBI! The FBI! That means she's a c-r-i-m-i-n-a-l and will be indicted before the election because remember, Benghazi Baby Parts Whitewater Vince Foster Killing Emailer. Death Panels! Flag Burning! English Only!
But seriously, this political masturbation by the Right over a possible Hillary Clinton indictment is really pathetic. The head of the FBI is James Comey, who was involved in the Whitewater investigations (way back then). Comey has a reputation for the old prosecutor's trick of finding the cover up worse than the crime and prosecuting that. Hillary Clinton has, (one can surmise because she knows Comey's M.O.) released ALL her emails, admitted responsibility to the press, and instructed her entire staff to cooperate with the FBI investigation. He can't go after a cover-up, and there's no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, however much Tea Party fappers would love to make it so.
On the other hand, the Obama Justice Department has just about had it with the frivolous Benghazi fishing expedition (reminiscent? No, a carbon copy of the Whitewater baloney) being perpetrated by Judicial Watch:
Judicial Watch makes no attempt here to justify why the witnesses it names would provide any relevant information that is not redundant and cumulative of the discovery that has already been ordered and initiated,” Justice Department lawyers wrote. The filing also noted that Clinton addressed the email issue in public testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi last October.
Yep, asked and answered. It won't stop the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (see? It does exist!) from trying to extend the life of the Benghazi Cash Cow that gets them out of bed every morning. The frosting on the cake is, that Judicial Watch and the Benghazi Committee are not friends, because they are in competition with each other to fundraise off taking full credit for 'taking down' Hillary, and blaming the other when things go wrong. Right Wing Watch reports:
Judicial Watch has a history of misleading the press and fomenting conspiracy theories that are tailor-made to spread through the conservative media, while the Benghazi Select Committee has a track record of producing embarrassing flubs and not much else.
Each group has a reason to fight for credit. Gowdy will ultimately need to justify his committee’s multimillion-dollar price tag, while Judicial Watch needs to prove success in its Benghazi efforts to justify its own fundraising. Ironically, both of these groups are searching for adulation based on an investigation that has thus far produced only criticism and no meaningful results.
