Liberal and mainstream media members are often lax on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, but her latest controversy is not escaping sharp criticism.
The New York Times reported Monday night that Clinton used a private email address as Secretary of State and potentially violated federal requirements on government official record keeping. Now, questions about transparency, secrecy and security are again dogging Clinton, described as a "storm brewing" by ABC World News.
MSNBC's Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski could scarcely hide their derision Tuesday morning, with Scarborough calling it "staggering" and Brzezinski incredulously asking how no one at the State Department could have noticed Clinton wasn't using a government account. On Wednesday, as Media Matters founder and pro-Clinton flack David Brock tried to spin the story as "sloppy" reporting by the New York Times, the liberal Brzezinski asked Brock if they were on the same planet.
The story has called into question, yet again, the Clintons' record of being secretive; National Journal writer Ron Fournier wrote that Clinton's creation of a "home-brewed email server" to avoid disclosing documents was a classic example of "butt-covering." Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein sounded a similar theme, saying the story fed into a narrative "that she's secret and political."
Former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs called it "highly unusual" in an interview with Today's Matt Lauer, who later said, "It provides a layup, doesn't it Robert, for her critics who say this is all about a lack of transparency." Even reliable MSNBC liberal Alex Wagner couldn't believe it, asking Tuesday, "Shouldn't she be emailing on an official account or at least have an official account?"
One Democratic congressman interviewed by CNN anonymously called the whole saga "typical Clinton," and correspondent Brianna Keilar said Clinton "certainly violated the spirit of the law" with her actions.