Washington Post reporter Ed O'Keefe said Wednesday it is "very clear" the Clintons play by different rules than others in the wake of a federal investigation into the security of Hillary Clinton's private email server while at the State Department.
"They've always done this," O'Keefe said during CNN's Inside Politics segment. "The attack is that they play by different rules, and I think it's very clear that they do ... You wake up this morning at the vice president's residence, you wake up this morning at Bernie Sanders' house, and you think to yourself, maybe my chances are getting better."
Associated Press reporter Lisa Lerer pointed out that these continuing stories about Clinton's emails and her secrecy are contributing to a public sense that she is not trustworthy, which is showing up in polls.
"It's just a continuation of this slow drip of email stories that are going to come out," Lerer said. We know we are guaranteed one a month because there is a court order to requiring the State Department to release a batch of these emails at least every month. In between we have these ongoing investigations now by the FBI, by the State Department Inspector General, by Republicans in Congress that are bringing up other revelations."
The stories have clearly helped shape Clinton's image negatively.
"I think the problem for her politically is that you know - this gets to this early narrative that Republicans are trying to set about her trustworthiness," Lerer said. "Can you really trust her if she was keeping all her emails on this private server?"
Host John King wondered why Clinton elected to use a private server despite knowing it would draw criticism.
"That's the part I don't get," King said. "Knowing she was likely to run for president, knowing the scrutiny the Clintons get—that's the part I don't get."