Clinton: New email investigation request is part of 'conspiracy theory machine factory'
Hillary Clinton told reporters Tuesday that Republicans have been engaging in “partisan conspiracy theorizing” about her for 25 years and she thinks it’s “not working” for them.
“I have created so many jobs in the, sort of, conspiracy theory machine factory because honestly, they never quit,” Clinton said, when asked about the news that Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz has requested a new investigation into her use of a private email server.
The FBI investigated her use of the server and announced it would not recommend prosecution. The agency released the summary of its investigation Friday, which revealed that a technology contractor deleted emails from the server after they had been subpoenaed by the Congressional committee that was investigating the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton told the FBI she was unaware that the emails had been deleted and had never instructed anyone to delete them.
Clinton said Tuesday this kind of scrutiny from Republicans “is not new to me,” and tied the investigations to the rise of Donald Trump. She said she believes she would work well with Republicans if elected, but blasted the party for continuing to call for investigations. “If that’s how they want to spend their time instead of looking to address the problems of the American people, that’s their choice,” she said. “It’s clearly not working for a lot of Republicans.”
“Why did someone come from outside and seize their nomination who had never been in public service?” Clinton asked. “I think they should come to the conclusion that they maybe should actually produce results for the American people and not engage in all this partisan conspiracy theorizing.”
The remarks came as Clinton took questions from her traveling press corps for the second time since her campaign began allowing reporters to fly on the same plane with her Monday. She also chatted with the photographers who have been covering her for months, in an apparent attempt to reset her relationship with the media after a 275-day period during which she did not hold a press conference.
Clinton spent much of August fundraising. She emerged on the campaign trail in full force Monday as she and her surrogates fanned out across the country for Labor Day events and rallies. On Tuesday, both she and her running mate, Tim Kaine, slammed Trump on foreign policy, with Clinton urging him to “look at a map” before talking about Syria and Kaine delivering a point-by-point critique of Trump’s statements on foreign policy. Trump, meanwhile, said at a Virginia Beach event that Putin “laughs” when he sees Clinton.
