Fox News Sunday Allows Bush Adviser To Baselessly Claim Hillary Clinton Is Subject Of The FBI's Email Investigation

Written by Nicholas Rogers

Published

Fox News Sunday allowed a former George W. Bush administration official and current Jeb Bush adviser, Michael Mukasey, to baselessly claim Hillary Clinton is being investigated by the FBI. In fact, numerous news accounts report that she is “not a target” of the investigation into her emails.

Jeb Bush Adviser Michael Mukasey Claims Clinton Is The Subject Of An FBI Investigation

Michael Mukasey: Clinton Is “Certainly One Of The People” The FBI Is Investigating. On the August 23 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, former George W. Bush administration official and current Jeb Bush adviser Michael Mukasey asserted that Hillary Clinton is “one of the people who's being investigated” by the FBI (emphasis added):

SHANNON BREAM (host): Her camp points out that the FBI is investigating the security of the devices that contained information and about who may have transferred classified information on or off her private server. They say the investigation is not about her. For some that sounds like, you know, splitting legal hairs, but is it accurate to say that this investigation [by] the FBI is not about her and may not impact her personally?

MUKASEY: It may not impact her personally eventually, if it comes -- if it comes to show that she didn't know what was on the server. But to say that the investigation is not of someone personally is ridiculous. The FBI does not investigate machines, it investigates people. And she's certainly one of the people who's being investigated. [Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox News Sunday, 8/23/15]

But Media Reports Confirm Clinton Is Not Personally The Subject Of The FBI's Email Investigation

NY Times: Hillary Clinton “Is Not A Target Of The Investigation.” In an August 14 article, The New York Times explained that Hillary Clinton is not a target of the FBI's investigation into her private email server. The Times wrote (emphasis added):

Law enforcement officials have said that Mrs. Clinton, who is seeking the 2016 Democratic nomination for president, is not a target of the investigation, and she has said there is no evidence that her account was hacked. There has also been no evidence that she broke the law, and many specialists believe the occasional appearance of classified information in her account was probably of marginal consequence. [The New York Times, 8/14/15]

Washington Post: Clinton “Is Not” The “Target” Of The FBI's Investigation. According to an August 11 report in The Washington Post, the current FBI investigation is “focused on ensuring the proper handling of classified material.” The Post goes on to explain that Hillary Clinton “is not a target”:

The inquiry by the FBI is considered preliminary and appears to be focused on ensuring the proper handling of classified material. Officials have said that Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, is not a target. [The Washington Post, 8/11/15]

CNN: Clinton “Has Not Personally Been Declared The Subject Of The Investigation Into Her Emails.” Recapping an interview between CNN host Chris Cuomo and Donald Trump, CNN.com noted that Clinton “has not personally been declared the subject of the investigation into her emails”:

Cuomo countered that Petraeus knew the information was classified and intentionally passed it along, but there has been no indication to date that the Justice Department believes Clinton intentionally shared information she knew was classified. She has not personally been declared the subject of the investigation into her emails. [CNN.com, 8/21/15]