Rep. Walberg: 'Transparency' for Clintons Is Getting Caught
Tuesday, 03 Mar 2015 03:49 PM
By Sean Piccoli
The news that Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, conducted sensitive government business using only a personal email account should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the Clintons' political history, says Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan.
"It that something that we would be surprised at?" Walberg, a House Oversight and Government Reform committee member, told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner on Newsmax TV on Tuesday in a discussion joined by author and political commentator Linda Tirado.
The New York Times reports that Clinton shunned an official State Department e-mail account while serving as the country's chief diplomatic officer.
Walberg called the move "characteristic" of Clintonian political secrecy throughout the careers of both Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, and troubling because of "all sorts of intrigue and the like that could go on."
"Transparency only happens when they're caught," said Walberg, "and sadly this was done as secretary of state — a position of immense, immense responsibility."
"There is a reason why America and its government has rules and laws in place, so that people don't put themselves in compromising situations that impact the rest of the country and its policies," said Walberg.
"So I will watch how this plays out," he said. "But this is a woman who would be president who now we have to question about her moral clarity."
"This was a really, really stupid thing for her to walk into," said Tirado, a blogger and author of "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America."
Tirado cautioned against jumping to security conclusions about Clinton's email habits until somebody from the national security wing of government has weighed in on the Times' findings.
"That road leads to a treason accusation," she said, adding there may be extenuating circumstances we don't yet know about.
But she agreed, "This isn't good for Hillary's campaign," and said that allowing it to become an issue is one of the "stupidest mistakes" to be made by the presumptive Democratic frontrunner for president in 2016.
Walberg said that a Republican caught in the same circumstance could expect to be treated harshly, but it remains to be seen whether Clinton will get a pass.
He also marveled at Clinton's "arrogance" in assuming that she would not have to abide by the email security procedures and public records rules that apply to all government officials.
"When you are dealing with national security issues and policies of state and you are … arrogant enough that you think you can live above the normal standards and expectations because you are who you are, that's a problem," he said. "What will that do with her thinking process when she's president of the United States? … That ought to be concern to everyone looking on."
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