Hillary
Clinton, in a rare interview on Fox News last Sunday, claimed that the
F.B.I. director, James B. Comey Jr., had called her statements about
her private email servers “truthful” and said she has been consistent
with the American people in her accounts about the controversy. As it
turns out, Clinton’s contentions in the interview were misleading,
bordering on false.
The
New York Times is just one outlet, but this is going on across the
media landscape. Hillary is getting away with murder while Donald Trump
gets raked over the coals for stupid stuff like the Khan spat and jokes
about Russian espionage. Credit where credit is due: It’s good that
this even appeared in the Times, but shame on them for allegedly trying
to bury it by not sharing it on their social accounts.
If you’re getting all your political news from The New York Times, this
may be the first time you’re hearing this. Clinton’s remarks were
covered by several major news organizations, several of which pointedly
challenged the Democratic nominee’s candor. But nothing on the
interview ever appeared in The Times, either online or in print.
In the Fox appearance, Clinton was asked by Chris Wallace, the anchor,
about previous statements she’s made when questioned on the email
controversy, while he played tapes of her past remarks to the public.
“After a long investigation, F.B.I. Director James Comey said none of
those things that you told the American public were true,” Wallace said.
Clinton pushed back. “Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and
what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people:
that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively
certain of the emails,” she said.
The Washington Post, NPR, NBC News and PolitiFact all challenged
Clinton’s claims, saying they appeared to be based on a selective and
misleading interpretation of Comey’s remarks. The Post warded her “Four
Pinocchios,” the worst truth-telling rating it gives, for statements it
classifies as “Whoppers.”…
I asked Carolyn Ryan, The Times’s political editor, about the decision
not to cover Clinton’s remarks about the email controversy. Here’s how
she responded: “It is a subject we have covered aggressively —
especially how her comments compare to what the F.B.I. found — and will
continue to do so.”…
[Full
report]
