EXCERPTED FROM POLITIFACT
Hillary Clinton said that she has told the public a consistent and truthful story about classified material on her emails, and FBI director James Comey backed her up. That immediately caught our attention.
On the July 31 edition of Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace played a video montage of several times Clinton said something like: ‘I am confident that I never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time.’
Wallace remarked, ‘After a long investigation, FBI director James Comey said none of those things that you told the American public were true.’
That’s not what Clinton heard Comey say, she responded.
‘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.
Clinton appears to have selective hearing.
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Clinton’s statement implies that Comey has confirmed that her public comments are accurate. That is incorrect.
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When Comey announced the FBI’s findings July 5, it was clear that there are obvious inconsistencies between what Clinton said publicly about classified information on her private email server before her FBI interview and what the FBI found. Pointedly, Clinton said there wasn’t any classified information in her email, and he said there was.
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Then, there was this exchange between Comey and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., at the congressional hearing:
Gowdy: ‘Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her emails either sent or received. Was that true?’
Comey: ‘That’s not true.’
Gowdy: ‘Secretary Clinton said, ‘I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material.’ Was that true?’
Comey: ‘There was classified material emailed.’
Our ruling
Clinton said regarding the presence of classified information in her email, FBI director James ‘Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people.’
A reasonable person would interpret Clinton’s statement to mean that Comey has endorsed her public remarks about her email. This is not the case.
Talking specifically about Clinton’s closed-door FBI interview, Comey said there is ‘no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI’ about her email practices. But Comey has specifically declined to comment on whether Clinton’s public remarks have been accurate.
Further, while not explicitly rebuking Clinton’s public comments, Comey highlighted a major problem with them.
Clinton repeatedly said she did not have any classified information whatsoever in her email, marked or unmarked. After the FBI investigation, including the interview with Clinton, Comey said she unequivocally did.
We rate her claim Pants on Fire.
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