Eric Boehlert On MSNBC Live: Clinton Email Coverage “Continues To Be ... A Process Story In Search Of A Crime”

Boehlert: “Structurally [The Investigation Is] Designed To Go On, For Months And Years At This Point”

From the September 14 edition of MSNBC's MSNBC Live:

Video file

JONATHAN CAPEHART (HOST): So, Eric, what do you make of people who do not believe that the email scandal, if you will, is legitimate? But they also don't believe she complied -- that Secretary Clinton complied with regulations?

ERIC BOEHLERT: I'm not surprised, I mean, the avalanche of news coverage, the vast majority of it has been very negative for months and months on this story. I'm surprised that legitimate number -- people who don't think it's legitimate is that high. Among Democrats, I know it's in the 70 percent range of Democrats who don't think it's a legitimate story. But, my gosh, she has been absolutely pummeled in the press thanks to the Republican investigation. This continues to be, you know, a scandal in search of a crime. A process story in search of a crime. Now, with the, you know, the question of these emails still being recoverable, you know, I guess that opens the door to more Clinton voyeurism. I mean, they've already released 7,000 of these State Department emails, and we learned such exciting things as she couldn't get her fax machine to work. But the key point there is the DOJ in the court filing last week saying two things important: A) She had every right to delete those files. And another point they made was, no government agency is under any obligation to go retrieve information based on a hunch, based on a fishing expedition. There's no allegation -- there's allegations, there's no proof anything was done wrong with these emails, so you can't go back looking for all these emails on a hunch we might find something, and that's what I think Republicans are still looking for.

[...]

CAPEHART: And Eric, real quickly, Secretary Clinton, her trustworthy numbers are through the floor. What can she do to turn that around? Was that apology last week going to be enough, or the start of turning things around?

BOEHLERT: Oh I don't know, you know, that's a political decision they made. I don't think that they're under any idea that this story is going to soon evaporate. Look, structurally it's designed to go on, for months and years at this point. The trustworthy numbers are interesting. Washington Post finally asked, you know, what about Donald Trump's trustworthy numbers? His are worse, but we don't hear a lot of chatter about that. 

Previously

On MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes, David Brock Explains The NY Times' Institutional Prejudice Against Hillary Clinton

On MSNBC Live, Eric Boehlert Highlights Report That Legal Experts Say Clinton Isn't In Criminal Trouble Over Emails

Media Debunk Misinformation Surrounding Clinton's Use Of Private Email