Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein blasted Hillary Clinton’s "extremely reckless" private email conduct and the "favors bestowed" to Clinton Foundation donors, all while being repeatedly interrupted by CNN host Carol Costello.
At one point, Costello cut her off in the midst of a critical sentence about Clinton to pivot to new questioning about Donald Trump.
FBI Director James Comey made public statements in July that Clinton was "extremely careless" with her server and presided over an atmosphere of sloppiness with classified material that would have likely got her fired if she had worked for the bureau. Stein pointed to that as an indictment of Clinton’s overall conduct, even though Comey wound up not recommending charges.
"There were statements made by the head of the FBI that seem to implicate Hillary Clinton as having undertaken extremely reckless habits with her email server that put top secret information at risk, and what he said actually seemed to be in contrast to his conclusion that there would be no prosecution," she said.
Stein said there should have been a "full investigation" into why top secret information was "put at risk" by Clinton’s behavior. Costello asked if Stein should face criminal charges for her private server, citing the fact that the Department of Justice had already closed the case.
"There are many experts in the field, actually, who say that intent is not part of the justification for proceeding with an investigation. The question is whether top secret information was put at risk, regardless of the intent, so I think that’s a matter that deserves public discussion," Stein said.
She added it was worth discussing "favors bestowed" on Clinton Foundation donors by Clinton’s State Department, such as weapons deals for contributing Saudis and the sale of uranium reserves to a Russian-controlled company while money flowed into the Clinton Foundation.
Stein also said the House Oversight Committee should launch an investigation into Clinton’s email habits after it receives notes from the FBI interview it conducted with the Democratic nominee, but Costello cut in when Stein was still ripping Clinton.
"These are the highest level of state secrets that were put at risk, when it’s known that the protections for her email were extremely inadequate, and in fact, orders were being issued from her office to others in the State Department to do the exact opposite of what she was doing," Stein said. "Certainly, if she wasn’t aware that she was violating State Department rules, it raises real issues about her competency. But I think, you know, the bigger issue here—"
Costello cut in yet again.
"Before you go, I do want to ask you about this notion that the election is rigged, because Donald Trump has come out and he keeps saying the election is rigged," she said.