Hillary Defends Sidney Blumenthal: "Important" To Talk To "Friends You Had Before You Were In Politics"
Charles Krauthammer, George Will and Ron Fournier of the Special Report panel react to Hillary Clinton referring to Sidney Blumenthal as someone whom she takes advice from that has been a "friend" before she got into politics. Clinton, referring to her correspondence with Blumenthal, said it's important to "not [be] caught in the bubble" and "only hear from a certain small group of people."
"It's important when you get into politics to have friends you had before you were in politics and to understand what is on their minds," Clinton said Tuesday. "And he has been a friend of mine for a long time. He sent me unsolicited e-mails which I passed on in some instances."
"When you're in the public eye, when you're in an official position, I think you do have to work to make sure you're not caught in the bubble and you only hear from a certain small group of people. And I'm going to keep talking to my old friends, whoever they are," she added.
"When you're a friend of the Clintons, you join the business; the business is Clinton Inc.," Krauthammer said of the friendship.
GEORGE WILL: The solution to being in a bubble is to talk to an old friend like Sidney Blumenthal. Liberals believe in recycling, so we're going to recycle all these figures from the 1990s. The question really is, did her friend, Mr. Blumenthal, have business in Libya? That's part of the question that we want answered. Also, every time the word Libya comes up in this campaign, it's got to be ruinous to Mrs. Clinton because it was on her watch that we went into this completely optional war of choice that created a failed state in the middle of Northern Africa.
RON FOURNIER, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Look, Sidney Blumenthal, for good reason was not allowed to work for the State Department, had business interests in Libya and was lobbying his friend in the State Department. That's an obvious conflict of interest. And how does she answer it? She talks about this bubble and how she wants to reach out to people outside the bubble who were friends with her before she entered public office.
BRET BAIER, SPECIAL REPORT: Unsolicited e-mails.
FOURNIER: Right. We'll find out if that's true. She's been in public life since 1978. She had to go way back to find a friend before she was a politician.
BAIER: Charles?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: What struck me was the fact that he was not only a friend, he was getting paid by the Clinton Foundation. He was a hire. When you're a friend of the Clintons, you join the business; the business is Clinton Inc. There's no distinction between the private, the charitable and the public. And he's part of the business and he tried to cash in on the business, apparently, because of his connection with the Libyan businessman and that's how the Clintons operate. Always on the line, sometimes over the line. And when people learn about it, they stumble.
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