Subject: 2016 GOP HIT on HRC
From: "Hendricks, Lauren" <[email-masked]>
To: Tony Carrk <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Brinster, Jeremy" <[email-masked]>, "Crystal, Andy" <[email-masked]>, "Dillon, Lauren" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 06:49:51 -0700

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5/12/16 9:48 AM
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The fallout from Hillary Clinton's email scandal is likely to complicate her campaign for months on.wsj.com/1NrAS1b<https://t.co/fzkTv9u7iI>
Emails Are Likely to Keep Complicating Hillary Clinton's Campaign<http://www.wsj.com/articles/emails-are-likely-to-keep-complicating-hillary-clintons-campaign-1463001566?mod=e2tw>
Democratic presidential front-runner faces months of FBI and Republican-led investigations, a lawsuit and a watchdog's report
[Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives at a campaign event on Wednesday at Camden County College in Blackwood, N.J.]ENLARGE
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives at a campaign event on Wednesday at Camden County College in Blackwood, N.J. PHOTO: JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/GETTY IMAGES
By
BYRON TAU
Updated May 11, 2016 9:33 p.m. ET
70 COMMENTS<http://www.wsj.com/articles/emails-are-likely-to-keep-complicating-hillary-clintons-campaign-1463001566#livefyre-comment>

WASHINGTON-As Hillary Clinton<http://topics.wsj.com/person/C/Hillary-Clinton/6344> moves closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, it is increasingly clear that the investigations and a lawsuit over her email practices as secretary of state could complicate her campaign in coming months.

The political and legal minefield includes a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of her email practices, a civil lawsuit by a conservative legal group in which Mrs. Clinton may be called to testify, a series of investigations led by congressional Republicans, and a government-watchdog report on the email practices of former secretaries of state.

Each event has the potential to capture headlines for a day or more and throw the campaign at least temporarily off message as Mrs. Clinton seeks to look beyond a stiff primary challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and draw a contrast with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump<http://topics.wsj.com/person/T/Donald-Trump/159>.

On Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey declined to comment on whether the Clinton email inquiry would conclude before or after the presidential election. "In any investigation, especially one of intense public interest...we want to do it well, and we want to do it promptly. So I feel pressure to do both of those things," he told reporters at a roundtable meeting at FBI headquarters. "As between the two, we will always choose 'well.' "

Mrs. Clinton has denied any wrongdoing in her use of the private email server and her handling of classified information as secretary of state, expressing confidence that she will be vindicated. She has apologized for her use of the private server, which was discouraged but not explicitly banned by the State Department, calling it a "mistake" not to use a government system. The Clinton campaign didn't respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Mr. Trump has already signaled an eagerness to focus on Mrs. Clinton's perceived lapses, dubbing her "crooked Hillary." That message pushes back against Democratic arguments that Mr. Trump, with his lack of government experience and penchant for outspoken statements, is uniquely unqualified for the presidency.

Mr. Trump faces his own legal challenges-he is expected to testify at a civil fraud trial in California beginning in November brought by former students against him and the now-defunct Trump University. His testimony would come after the election. Mr. Trump has denied the students' allegations, saying many of them gave the courses high marks.

Polls suggest the email controversy has had an impact on Mrs. Clinton's standing. In an April Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey, 60% of voters gave her poor marks on being honest and straightforward, while only 19% give her high ratings on those traits.

The FBI is expected to conclude its inquiry in coming weeks or months, likely including an interview of Mrs. Clinton herself. The bureau has already interviewed her top aides. There is no evidence that a grand jury has been impaneled to hear evidence, a necessary step in any indictment.

Candidates Attempt Unification as Primaries Wind Down
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have a long road to party unification before their presumed general election candidacies this year. WSJ national politics editor Aaron Zitner explains. Photo: AP

The FBI inquiry was sparked by the discovery of classified material on Mrs. Clinton's private server, which her campaign has suggested is a result of over-classification. None of the emails contained markings indicating that they contained classified information at the time Mrs. Clinton sent or received them.

"I always took classified material seriously," Mrs. Clinton said Sunday on CBS<http://quotes.wsj.com/CBS.A>. "There was never any material marked classified that was sent or received by me. And I look forward to this being wrapped up."

Mrs. Clinton also must contend with a forthcoming report on the use of private email by State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, an independent government watchdog appointed by President Barack Obama<http://topics.wsj.com/person/O/Barack-Obama/4328>. That report, expected in coming weeks, is examining the use of email by the five previous secretaries.

Depending on its findings, that report could give the Clinton campaign ammunition to argue that secretaries of both parties used private email. Still, Correct the Record, a group run by Mrs. Clinton's allies, preemptively moved to discredit the report last week by noting that a top official in the IG's office formerly worked for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. His panel is also probing issues related to Mrs. Clinton's time in office.

Brad Woodhouse, president of Correct the Record, accused Sen. Grassley of embarking on a "partisan witch hunt." A spokeswoman for Mr. Grassley called those charges "falsehoods."

"Partisan politics plays no role in our oversight work at [the Office of the Inspector General], and our work on this review is no exception," said Douglas Welty, a spokesman for Mr. Linick.

Not all of Mrs. Clinton's challenges come from official probes. A lawsuit by the conservative group Judicial Watch, seeking records from State Department documents under the Freedom of Information Act, will result in public testimony under oath by Mrs. Clinton's top aides, and possibly Mrs. Clinton herself.

In a February hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan called the State Department's purported reluctance to release documents "troubling." He signaled he might use the legal proceedings to explore why Mrs. Clinton used a private email server.

"We're talking about a cabinet-level official who was accommodated by the government for reasons unknown to the public," said Judge Sullivan, who was appointed to his current position by former President Bill Clinton.
[https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-CK143_APPROV_9U_20160511172108.jpg]ENLARGE

The investigations into Mrs. Clinton are also taking place in a sharply polarized Capitol Hill, where at least two GOP-led Senate committees are probing her emails. Even after the FBI investigation concludes, House aides expect a push for further scrutiny of the Clinton emails by several panels.

Meanwhile, the Republican-led House Select Committee on Benghazi is wrapping up a report on a 2012 terrorist attacks that killed four Americans in Libya, including a U.S. ambassador. Mrs. Clinton testified before that committee in October for 11 hours.

Democrats portray that investigation as a partisan exercise aimed at damaging Mrs. Clinton. Sen. Dianne Feinstein<http://topics.wsj.com/person/F/Dianne-Feinstein/5519> (D., Calif.) this week complained that the committee has lasted two years and spent $6.8 million, adding, "I'm appalled that House Republicans continue to waste time and money in an effort to disparage Secretary Clinton."

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), who chairs the Benghazi committee, said Mrs. Clinton is not being targeted. "This investigation is not about her," he said. "And the report will not be about her, either."

Lauren Hendricks