Classified BS
by digby
The New York Times blasted out a headline last night saying that Clinton had been referred to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation into her handling of emails. It was completely unintelligible --- I had no idea what she was accused of or why they thought she had committed a crime.
Guess what? According to CNN:
The account of the investigation changed overnight. The Times initially reported that the inspectors general sought a criminal inquiry into Clinton's handling of possible classified material with her private email while working as secretary of state. The story now says the investigation would simply look at whether sensitive information was mishandled -- but not necessarily by Clinton.
The request for the Justice Department investigation comes after a June 29 memo from the inspectors general that said Clinton's private account held "hundreds of potentially classified emails," The Times reported.
A Democratic presidential contender for 2016, Clinton has insisted that she never handled classified information on her private account.
"Contrary to the initial story, which has already been significantly revised, she followed appropriate practices in dealing with classified materials," said Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill. "As has been reported on multiple occasions, any released emails deemed classified by the administration have been done so after the fact, and not at the time they were transmitted."
The New York Times report said it was "not clear if any of the information in the emails was marked as classified by the State Department when Mrs. Clinton sent or received them."
Don't worry, though. They got their headline and the wingnuts are making sure it's being circulated everywhere. I'm sure Trey Gowdy and company will reward them and continue to be forthcoming with any juicy tidbits that will guarantee a steady drip of character assassination. It's nice to see some things never change.
Update: yup. Here's Representative Elijah Cummings:
And the New York Times sits there like little baby birds with their beaks wide open waiting to swallow GOP pre-masticated propaganda and then vomit it up for their readers.
Update: Laura Clawson at DKos has more on this ridiculous story. Marcy Wheeler too.
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