Valerie Jarrett, White House Behind Hillary Clinton Email Scandal-Unproven!
Summary of eRumor:
Rumors are spreading that White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett and other White House officials leaked the story about Hillary Clinton using a private email address as secretary of state to the press, and that more negative stories are on the way.
The Truth:
People close to Bill and Hillary Clinton have said that Valerie Jarrett leaked negative stories about Hillary to the press — but Jarrett has denied it.
There’s no hard evidence to prove whether rumors about mudslinging between the Clintons and the Obama Administration are true, but let’s take a look at how the eRumor started.
Hillary Clinton’s email scandal blew up in early March of 2015. Reports that Clinton had used a private email account and a personal email server during her time as secretary of state raised questions about whether she had broken federal laws. Daniel Metcalfe, a former Department of Justice official, wrote in Politico:
“In this case, which is truly unprecedented, no matter what Secretary Clinton would have one believe, she managed successfully to insulate her official emails, categorically, from the (Freedom of Information Act), both during her tenure at State and long after her departure from it — perhaps forever. ‘Nice work if you can get it,’ one might say, especially if your experience during your husband’s presidency gives you good reason (nay, even highly compelling motivation) to relegate unto yourself such control if at all possible.”
Rumors that Valerie Jarrett and other White House officials had leaked the email scandal to the press started days after the story broke. The New York Post cited unnamed sources from Bill Clinton’s camp who made that claim, and the story spread like wildfire:
“Members of Bill Clinton’s camp say the former president suspects the White House is the source of the leak and is furious.
“’My contacts and friends in newspapers and TV tell me that they’ve been contacted by the White House and offered all kinds of negative stories about us,’ one of Bill’s friends quotes him as saying. ‘The Obamas are behind the email story, and they’re spreading rumors that I’ve been with women, that Hillary promoted people at the State Department who’d done favors for our foundation, that John Kerry had to clean up diplomatic messes Hillary left behind.’
“Then, according to this source, Bill added: ‘The Obamas are out to get us any way they can.’”
The Post also reported that the White House would leak more negative stories about Hillary Clinton.
Valerie Jarrett denied that on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” She said that the claim was “preposterous” during an interview:
“It’s preposterous … as the president said last week, he really prides himself on having an administration that is transparent, and he’s glad to see that he’s turning over her emails to the State Department. So, yes, that’s very important.”
This probably isn’t the last we’ll hear about this eRumor. Check back for future updates.