Clinton on possibility of email indictment: ‘It’s not going to happen’
It has been a while since the Democratic candidates faced off on the subject of Hillary Clinton’s email during a televised debate, so it was something of a nostalgic moment when the question came up in the Univision/Washington Post event on Wednesday night.
After the disclaimer that “My daughter, Paola, works for your campaign,” moderator Jorge Ramos posed a multipart question to the former secretary of state, asking if it was President Obama who “specifically gave you permission” to use a private email server. He pressed on, asking: “Would you resign if you are indicted?” referring to the 104 emails that Clinton sent and received on that server that have since been labeled classified.
Clinton answered the first part by repeating what she has said on previous occasions — that the emails were not classified when she sent them, and that she did not need to ask anyone for permission because there were no restrictions on the practice when she took office. “If you get indicted, would you drop out?” Ramos asked again.
“Oh for goodness sake,” Clinton replied. “It’s not going to happen. I’m not even answering that question.”
Ramos then tried to get Bernie Sanders involved, saying he had started his campaign saying, “Nobody cares about your damn emails” but has referred to them more recently as a “very serious issue.” But Sanders wasn’t biting. “It is a process, and it will take its course,” he said, neatly pivoting back to his campaign themes. “Today in this country, the middle class is disappearing, we have massive levels of income and wealth inequality, climate change threatens the whole planet, 47 million people live in poverty. … I’m going to focus on the issues facing the working families of this country.”
The give-and-take set the tone for the rest of the debate — with the moderators asking pointed questions and the candidates bristling, often in unison. “Do you think Donald Trump is racist?” was the next question, and they refused to take the bait on that one, too.
(Cover tile photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
