Hillary Is Hiding from the Media because She Is Hiding from Her Past

It's Saturday email bag time again. This week, your comments continued to be about Greece and the Eurozone. There was also a question about Hillary Clinton and about the US presidential race. Since I just wrote a blog about Greece two days ago, there isn't additional news and we can only renew our support for Greece in this trying hour. Let's focus on American presidential politics. ~~~~~ The American media and Republican 2016 candidates, and even some Democrat party leaders, are complaining that since she announced her candidacy, Hillary Clinton has not been available for questions. ABC News says Clinton has "responded, in one way or another, to a grand total of nine questions from reporters since she launched her campaign last month." The most recent was on April 21 when she answered a question from a reporter about her position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. Clinton has not answered any questions from reporters since, although she has answered apparently pre-selected questions from voters at her organized campaign events. A Clinton campaign spokesman told ABC that "the focus of our ramp up period is to hear from voters about the issues they care about. She’s enjoyed engaging in hours of public question and answers sessions and, as the campaign progresses, looks forward to more engagement with voters and the press as well.” In fact, former President Bill Clinton has done more media interviews than his wife since she kicked off her campaign. Hillary Clinton has yet to do a formal sit down interview with any national media. Mrs. Clinton can indoubtedly survive for some time without giving interviews and dealing face-to-face with the media since she has no credible competition for the Democratic presidential nomination. But patience seems to be running out with her tactic. Jeb Bush, who has had trouble the past few days clarifying his position on the second Iraq war, is nevertheless out and accessible, answering press questions, including while moving through crowds. Even the liberal darling political guru of CNN, Gloria Borger, applauded Jeb's accessibility while lamenting Hillary's decision to hide from media questions. ~~~~~ Taking congressional action that could spell trouble for Hillary Clinton's candidacy, Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House committee that is investigating Benghazi, seems determined to do a thorough job. The September 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, generated many documents, and Gowdy has uncovered tens of thousands of new documents, but says he is still facing "obstacles" from the Obama administration. In an "Interim Progress Update" issued Monday, Gowdy revealed that the investigation "has uncovered new witnesses, new documents, new facts and will result in the most detailed and complete accounting of what happened in Benghazi." The report also indicates that in June the panel will interview former Secretary of State Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey and retired General Carter Ham, who was in charge of US troops in Libya at the time of the attack that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans and has prompted questions about the role of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Gowdy said his panel also plans to interview Susan Rice, who is Obama's national security advisor, and Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton. The report accuses officials in the Obama administration of refusing to turn over requested emails and documents related to Benghazi. Gowdy concludes that issuing subpoenas and using the courts to try to get the information would take too long and instead is suggesting that the House use its "power of the purse" to persuade the executive branch to hand over the requested information. Gowdy has written to Secretary of State John Kerry to ask for more cooperation : "You pledged your support and cooperation for the work of this committee when you assumed your current duties…yet the committee finds itself in the same place it was six months ago with respect to relevant communications from only ten former senior officials -- not one single piece of paper or email has been produced to the select committee from the 7th floor principals.” Gowdy said in the letter to Kerry that the State Department’s pace is making the committee’s work “impossible." Gowdy wrote in the report that : "In addition to highlighting the public's right to know substantial pieces of information still to be disclosed, the House should also consider motivating the executive branch through the appropriations process." The committee has also had a difficult time with Clinton over her willingness to testify. Gowdy has requested that she appear twice before the committee in public hearings, but Clinton lawyer David Kendall wrote to Gowdy to say she wil only appear once. Gowdy said the second hearing is needed to interview Clinton about her use of a personal email server for State Department business and her decision to destroy 30,000 emails. Gowdy says that the timing of the hearing hinges on when the panel obtains the thousands of documents it has requested but not yet received from the State Department. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the concensus of political professionals is that Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 presidential nomination to Barack Obama because of her disorganized and undisciplined campaign committee that sent mixed messages. There was also the matter of her being unable to control her husband Bill, whose racially charged attack on candidate Obama in South Carolina may have nailed the lid on the coffin for Hillary in 2008. For almost a year, we have been told by Hillary Land that this time it will be different! - that she has a disciplined campaign team and a coherent message. But what we have seen so far is an unspoken message of fear. Fear of Benghazi - fear of answering for her destruction of official emails that belonged not to her but to the US government - fear of having to defend herself against allegations that she and Bill engaged in influence peddling while she was Secretary of State. Hillary Clinton can run, but she cannot hide forever. Finally, she will have to explain her actions to American voters if she is to have any chance of being a viable presidential candidate. And it seems fitting that it will probably be a House member from South Carolina who makes her talk at last -- Trey Gowdy is a seasoned federal.prosecutor - if anybody can unmask Hillary Clinton, he can. Hillary's presidential ambitions may once again come to nothing because of South Carolina. ----- Please join our Saturday email bag. Send me a comment anytime to casey.popshots@yahoo.com. See you next Saturday.