Following the IG Mess at Clinton.com

The Hill feels for Hillary: Clinton email headache is about to get worse

In the next few weeks — just as the likely Democratic presidential nominee hopes to pivot towards a general election — it will face its toughest scrutiny yet.

“All of that feeds into this overarching problem of public distrust of her,” said Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University.

“To put it in slang terms, she’s got a pretty deeply held street rep at this point. This fits the street rep,” he added.
. . .
At some point in the next month, the House Select Committee on Benghazi is also set to release its long-awaited report about the 2012 terror attack, which has been linked to Clinton.

The committee has pursued Clinton’s emails to the extent that they relate to the violence in Libya, and the report is likely to stoke new ire about the matter. However, its two-year investigation has been marred by partisan bickering, and the report will likely be shrugged off by Democrats.
. . .
Republicans appear primed to cry foul if the FBI closes its investigation without handing down indictments or offering a public explanation. Senior lawmakers have already excoriated the Justice Department for failing to appoint a special prosecutor.

“It’s clear that the attorney general, who serves at the pleasure of President Obama, is going to have very little incentive or intention to pursue the appropriate investigation,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said on the chamber floor this week.

 WaPo, LA Times, The Hill: Hillary’s denials aren’t working, but …

In the end, Hillary can afford to double down, and she can still count on her media apologists to embrace her continuing denials. Her dishonesty and opacity have long been priced into the Hillary ticket, and Democrats will continue to ignore her machinations as long as they aren’t prosecuted. If they are, then those calculations will change — but until then, the IG report will simply cause Hillary supporters to circle the wagons and start offering conspiracy theories about how an IG appointed by Barack Obama is part of the vast right-wing conspiracy.

And, as if on cue, Ruth Marcus: Hillary Clinton’s self-inflicted damage

 But the accretions, the scar tissue built up over years of politically motivated attacks and endless investigations, reinforced Clinton’s instinct for the protective crouch.

and Dana Milbank: Why the new report on Hillary Clinton’s email is so damning

Fifteen months ago, when the email scandal broke, I viewed her use of a private server as an extension of the “same flaws that have caused Clinton trouble in the past — terminal caution and its cousin, obsessive secrecy. In trying so hard to avoid mistakes — in this case, trying to make sure an embarrassing e-mail or two didn’t become public — Clinton made a whopper of an error.”

Yesterday, we saw that the State Dept. was resisting Judicial Watch's attempts to put Hillary in the witness box; now Justice steps in, too. DOJ seeks to prevent Judicial Watch from deposing Hillary Clinton. So far the judge has not been her friend.

A few via Larwyn's Linx: A President Clinton Could Pardon Herself and Congress Might Be Powerless to Act, Does the AP style book say ‘lying’ is spelled ‘misstated key facts’ when the story is about Hillary?, and Hillary and Staff May Have Blown Counterterrorism Ops With ‘Sloppy’ Communications:

A retired senior State Department military adviser claims that Hillary Clinton’s “sloppy communications with her senior staff” when she was secretary of state may have compromised at least two counterterrorism operations.

Bill Johnson, who was the State Department’s political adviser to the special operations section of the U.S. Pacific Command, or PACOM, in 2010 and 2011, says secret plans to eliminate the leader of a Filipino Islamist separatist group and intercept Chinese-made weapons components being smuggled into Iraq were repeatedly foiled.

Johnson says he and his team eliminated the possibility of other security leaks before settling on the unprotected telephone calls of the secretary of state and her aides as the likely source—though he quickly adds they have “no proof.”

That's the Hillary standard: "No proof"!

Jonah Goldberg mulls over the question Why Both Clintons Are Such Unapologetic Liars. Because it has been a (sort of) successful strategy in the past.

The amazing thing about Hillary and Bill Clinton is that they are united by no central idea, no governing philosophy that doesn’t — upon close inspection — boil down to the idea that they should be in charge.
. . .
Strip away all of the political posturing and positioning, and their “philosophy” that government run by experts can do wonderful things should really be translated as “government run by us.”

Why Hillary won't release Goldman Sachs transcripts: Hillary Clinton: I Am Goldman Sachs’ ‘Partner in Government’

Then-Senator Clinton, who is under fire from Bernie Sanders for her close ties to the investment firm, identified herself as Goldman Sachs’ “partner in government” at the 2005 groundbreaking of the firm’s new 740-foot-tall headquarters in Lower Manhattan. Goldman Sachs won federal government Liberty Bonds to build it.

“Following the tragic events of September 11th, I was proud to have worked with my colleagues in Congress to secure $20 billion in federal aid for New York,” Clinton said. “Major employers like Goldman Sachs needed to know they had a partner in government to ensure that Lower Manhattan could continue to sustain their businesses in the area, I am pleased to be an ongoing partner in supporting economic development in Lower Manhattan and thank Goldman Sachs for their commitment to the future of Lower Manhattan and New York City.”

If she said that in public, just imagine what she said in private.

Ann Althouse catches NPR quoting Hispanic lawmakers saying Hillary Clinton needs to pick a VP with "sizzle." With "sizzle" apparently meaning Hispanic. I mean, she carries hot sauce in her purse. Isn't that enough sizzle?

I found that embarrassing. I know I'm perceiving and expressing that from my identity as a member of a non-sizzling ethnic group, but why is that kind of talk not considered unacceptable ethnic stereotyping?

From Roiling Stone: Green Party's Jill Stein on the Feminist Case Against Hillary Clinton. To be fair, it's obvious, but Clinton supporters just don't care about other women that much.

And the horse race between Hillary and Bernie continues to slog on: Hillary Clinton’s California Lead Vanishes. How predictable was that? And before he gives up Sanders demands: Remove Clinton backers from convention committees Anti gay? Sanders moves to boot Barney Frank from DNC committee You know how bigoted those old geezers are.

And Hillary is succeeding, at least, in bringing the Republicans together: Never mind Trump, GOP uniting under banner: 'Never Hillary' as little Marco Rubio signs on. Yep, it may be "Alien" vs "Predator" but at least he's our predator. Trump promises: ‘I Would Like To’ Avoid Bringing Up Clintons’ Marital Problems but I don't think it's going to happen. As soon as the democrats start going after Melania. . . And last of all, Donald vs. Hillary is “the Real Housewives election,” and that’s why Trump will win