As Hillary Clinton heads to Iowa today to try and steer the conversation back to her policy agenda, NBC’s Kristen Welker reported this morning on a Suffolk University poll that shows 52% of Iowa Democratic caucus-goers think Clinton’s email controversy will hurt her in a general election.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, State Department spokesman John Kirby refused to comment on the ongoing investigation:
Below is a transcript on the exchange:
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: “Joining us now, State Department spokesman John Kirby. Good to have you back on the show.”
JOHN KIRBY: “Thanks good to be with you guys.”
BRZEZINSKI: “Two topics, Hillary Clinton and Iran. I’ll start, um, just first of all, did anyone approve of Hillary Clinton using a private e-mail account or a server, just yes or no?”
KIRBY: “Well, look, these kinds of things are under review and investigation right now. So I’m really not at liberty to go into too much detail about the past. That’s all getting looked at and…”
BRZEZINSKI: “Is that question under review and investigation, whether or not it was approved?”
KIRBY: “All of the parameters surrounding the use of, that server, and the e-mail traffic that existed. All that is being reviewed, both by our Inspector General as well as Members of Congress. So I don’t want to get ahead of that, we’re going to let the facts take us where they take us and then we’ll deal with it, on the back end of that.”
BRZEZINSKI: “Okay, alright, so then is it safe to say, can I ask if the State Department is also reviewing how the server was set up, maintained, taken off-line, and stored before these revelations came out? Are they looking into all of that? Is that important to investigate? By the State Department.”
KIRBY: “Well, look, I, I’ll let investigators speak for what they’re doing. And the Inspector General, as you know, is an independent organization here at the State Department. I don’t know every parameter of everything that they’re going to look at. But we want them to be able to do their job, and do it efficiently and effectively. Then when they’re done, and we take a look at what they found out, then we’ll deal with it.”
BRZEZINSKI: “Pertaining to Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server? Is that what we’re talking about? We’re talking about them doing their job?”
KIRBY: “We’re talking about their review of the situation, as it was back then and how it was constructed, and again, I don’t want to get into more detail than that right now as the investigators are doing their work.”