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RNC Ad Hits Hillary On Emails, Trustworthiness

October 12, 2015

The Republican National Committee on Monday released an advertisement connecting Hillary Clinton's sprawling email controversy to her public image as dishonest and untrustworthy.

The ad, titled "Not Telling Us the Truth... Again," juxtaposes Clinton's claim that she did not transmit any classified information on her private email system with media reports stating the opposite.

"I did not email classified material to anyone," Clinton said at a press conference at the U.N. in March.

Clinton's statement was soon proven false, as classified information was found in hundreds of emails that she turned over to the State Department.

Some of the emails contained information that was retroactively classified, meaning that the information was either mislabeled as unclassified or was not considered classified at the time it was sent. Other emails contained information that was classified at the time they were sent or received by Clinton.

Classified information funneled through Clinton's private email system included closely-guarded information about the "sources and methods" of the intelligence community. In August, the intelligence community's inspector general found that Clinton's emails included information from U.S. spy satellites. Last week, the House Select Committee on Benghazi revealed that Clinton's emails outed a CIA source.

The RNC ad likely aims to tap into public distrust of Clinton. The word that voters most often associate with Clinton is "liar," ABC reported in August, and Clinton's favorability rating is at its lowest ebb since 1992.

"Clinton can’t shake the reputation that she’s hiding something," ABC News reporter Veronica Stracqualursi wrote.

Clinton remains the prohibitive frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, although her poll numbers have slipped as information has come to light about her email controversy.