MSNBC's Morning Joe discussed Hillary Clinton's lingering questions about how trustworthy she is Thursday, with one panelist suggesting "liar" is the word that comes to mind most often for voters with Clinton.
Host Joe Scarborough started by asking columnist Mike Barnicle if he believed the government agencies involved in the investigation were being honest and fair considering Clinton's influence.
"Is the State Department playing it straight? Is the Justice Department playing it straight?" Scarborough asked. "I don't think there's any question, this federal judge, this Clinton appointee is tough. He's playing it straight. He's demanding compliance and he's really getting on the parties when he thinks they're dragging their feet for political reasons.
"Same thing with the FBI. Nobody questions whether James Comey is going to play this straight. Everybody from Rudy Guiliani down says he's a straight shooter. What about the State Department? Are they playing it straight? What about the Justice Department? Can we count on Loretta Lynch to play it straight and not make the political decision, but make the legal decision on how far to take this?"
"Well, I would think, Joe, that both the State Department and the Justice Department certainly are playing it straight. But clearly the federal judge is highly impatient with the State Department's pace of releasing all of the emails that have thus far been released," Barnicle said.
"She does have a trust issue that she's going to need to get over," panelist Steve Rattner said.
Co-host Mika Brzezinski later asked columnist Jonathan Capehart whether the word "liar" describes Clinton.
"Is ‘liar’ really, I mean, I don't think that's the word necessarily at least," Brzezinski said.
"Oh no, that's the word. That's the word that a lot of people think when they think of Hillary Clinton," Capehart said.