Previewing Hillary Clinton’s testimony Thursday morning before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 did their best on Wednesday to paint the most flattering picture possible of Clinton being “battle tested” with “steady nerves” despite “withering attacks” and the ability to turn “even a hot seat, if not comfortable, at least cooler.”
Benghazi attack
By Jeffrey Meyer | October 18, 2015 | 11:53 AM EDT
During an appearance on Sunday’s Meet the Press, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell complained to House Benghazi committee member Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) as to why “have you focused to much on e-mails and not on the central question of why was the security failure at that consulate?”
By Tom Johnson | October 17, 2015 | 4:45 PM EDT
Michael Kinsley’s second-best-known contribution to political discourse, trailing only the “Kinsley gaffe,” is his observation that “the scandal isn't the illegal behavior -- the scandal is what's legal.” In a Thursday post, Steve Benen, a producer for MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and the primary writer for the TRMS blog, sought to apply Kinsley’s wisdom to the congressional inquiry into the September 2012 Benghazi attack.
“The Benghazi Committee isn’t investigating a scandal. The Benghazi Committee is the scandal,” declared Benen (italics in original). “There’s been some debate in recent weeks about whether congressional Democrats should continue to participate in such an obvious farce. It’s a worthwhile question that deserves an answer.”
By Curtis Houck | October 16, 2015 | 5:45 PM EDT
Finally getting his chance to interview Hillary Clinton on Friday’s The Lead, CNN anchor Jake Tapper didn’t exactly measure up as while he did what other reporters failed to do in asking Clinton about her relationship with Sidney Blumenthal, he cozied up to her on the recent marking of her and Bill’s 40th wedding anniversary plus sarcastically asking he could “get your e-mail address.”
By Curtis Houck | October 12, 2015 | 9:09 PM EDT
On Monday, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News prominently touted the claims by a fired staffer on the House Select Committee on Benghazi that the panel’s sole aim is to takedown former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a move that gives her “a potential lifeline” in “another blow” to the committee.
By Curtis Houck | October 5, 2015 | 8:58 PM EDT
The “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC pulled out all the stops on Monday night to carry water for 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, proclaiming that she’s “on fire” with “new wind in her sails” as she “unveil[ed] a tough new stance on gun control” and came “out swinging today at the Benghazi Committee.”
By Curtis Houck | October 1, 2015 | 12:19 AM EDT
During his segment on the Wednesday edition of MSNBC’s All In attacking Speaker of the House candidate Kevin McCarthy for his comments about Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi Committee, host Chris Hayes made quite the choice of liberal pundits in none other than failed Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who compared McCarthy and the panel to the “witch-hunt” against Planned Parenthood.
By Curtis Houck | September 30, 2015 | 9:49 PM EDT
On Wednesday night, the CBS Evening News punted on the latest batch of Hillary Clinton’s State Department e-mails released hours earlier while their competitors at ABC and NBC did cover them, but only through the veil of defending Clinton against Speaker of the House candidate Kevin McCarthy’s comments on the Benghazi Committee that NBC’s Andrea Mitchell touted as “an unlikely political lifeline.”
By Curtis Houck | September 29, 2015 | 6:18 PM EDT
In the rarely fruitless world of MSNBC’s Hardball, host Chris Matthews groaned at the top of Monday’s show about the ongoing Benghazi and e-mail scandals enveloping Hillary Clinton that have become “termite bites” for the Democratic presidential candidate as Vice President Joe Biden could still join the 2016 race.
By Curtis Houck | September 28, 2015 | 9:18 PM EDT
After part one of Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd’s interview with Hillary Clinton aired on Sunday’s show, parts two and three premiered on the debut edition of MSNBC’s MTP Daily and while the discussion on foreign policy included time on Libya, Todd neglected to even mention in his questioning the deadly 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi that has embroiled Clinton in scandal.
By Curtis Houck | September 3, 2015 | 9:53 PM EDT
The CBS Evening News bid farewell on Thursday to Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal as the newscast, unlike ABC and NBC, dodged news that longtime Clinton aide Cheryl Mills testified before the House Select Committee on Benghazi plus word late Wednesday night that a former staffer who helped set up her private e-mail server would invoke his Fifth Amendment by not testifying before Congress.
By Curtis Houck | June 26, 2015 | 5:41 PM EDT
On Friday morning, all three of the major broadcast networks surprisingly covered the latest in the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal as 15 e-mails between Clinton and former confidante Sidney Blumenthal were discovered missing from her time at the State Department. Despite the over five and half minutes of coverage, CBS and NBC expressed concern that “the revelation” could create “a new distraction” for Clinton’s presidential campaign.