Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Sunday that Clinton had not asked top aide Huma Abedin what was in the emails that re-opened Clinton's email controversy this weekend, saying that it wasn't even clear the FBI announcement had anything to do with Abedin despite extensive reporting to the contrary.
FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress on Friday sent a shock into the 2016 campaign, announcing that pertinent emails related to Clinton's private server use were discovered during a separate investigation. Multiple news outlets reported that the other probe was into none other than disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, Abedin's estranged husband. According to the New York Times, the emails were found on a computer belong to Weiner.
Clinton called Comey's letter "deeply troubling," assailing him for the timing and not providing more information. Mook echoed Clinton on Fox News Sunday, saying "we just want all the information out there."
"There is someone who knows what's in all those emails, and that is Huma Abedin. Has Secretary Clinton asked her what's in those emails?" host Chris Wallace asked.
"Well, Chris, the problem with what you're just saying there is we don't know," Mook said. "We don't know where these emails are from. You're making an inference that it could have been Huma Abedin. Your guess is as good as anyone."
The New York Times refuted that in its reporting:
A senior law enforcement official said that tens of thousands of emails belonging to Ms. Abedin were on Mr. Weiner’s laptop, which the F.B.I. had obtained as part of its investigation into Mr. Weiner. About a month ago, a person familiar with the investigation said, F.B.I. agents seized the laptop as well as Mr. Weiner’s iPad and cellphone.
"I'm asking you a direct question. Has Secretary Clinton asked Huma Abedin what was on that laptop that she shared with her husband, Anthony Weiner?" Wallace asked.
"She hasn't," Mook said, laughing. "Because you just offered a hypothetical on the table, let me offer you some hypotheticals that I've read in the press. I've heard a hypothetical that these emails had nothing to do with Hillary Clinton whatsoever, that she didn't send or receive any of those."
Wallace said that didn't matter, repeating his question.
"Why wouldn't she ask Huma Abedin, did you have emails on the laptop and what's in them? And why wouldn't she ask her?" Wallace asked.
Mook said he wanted to know what was in the emails as well, and he returned to fretting about the vague nature of Comey's letter. However, Wallace pressed on, saying "credible reporting" showed the messages were from Weiner's laptop.
"Why on Earth wouldn't Hillary Clinton say to her closest personal aide, was there any stuff on your laptop, and what was it?" Wallace asked.
"Chris, again, I appreciate your question because people want answers. There's nothing about Huma Abedin in the letter that was sent out," Mook said.
"I know that, but why wouldn't Clinton ask her?" Wallace asked.
"Well, why wouldn't Clinton ask anybody? They could be emails from anybody in the world," Mook said.
"There are no reports that it's anybody else except Huma Abedin," Wallace said.
"Again, you're putting out some hypotheticals," Mook said. "There are other hypotheticals that have been put out there."
"It's on the front page of every paper in America," Wallace said.
"Again, I appreciate what you're asking because everybody wants to have the answer, and there's a person who can answer this question, and that's Director Comey," Mook said. "He should put out more information, get everything on the table."