Clinton IT specialist ignores subpoena for House hearing; other witnesses plead 5th

Former Clinton aide Pagliano a no-show at email hearing

The former State Department IT specialist who set up Hillary Clinton’s private server ignored a subpoena to appear Tuesday before a House committee hearing, while other tech experts who helped maintain the system asserted their Fifth Amendment right not to testify – frustrating Republican lawmakers trying to dig deeper into the former secretary of state’s email setup.
House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said he’ll now consider a “full range of options” to address IT aide Bryan Pagliano’s “failure” to attend.
“He should be here. … It is not optional,” Chaffetz said. “His attendance is required here.”
Pagliano is considered a vital witness in the Clinton email case. He spoke previously to the FBI under immunity, telling the bureau there were no successful security breaches of the server. Pagliano also refused to answer questions last year before a House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. His lawyers said at the time that Pagliano did not want to relinquish his rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.
Republicans on Tuesday questioned why Pagliano would avoid the latest hearing if he had immunity, though Democrats pushed back. According to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Pagliano’s lawyer said the request was an “abuse of process.”
Two other officials from Platte River Networks, Bill Thornton and Paul Combetta, did comply with subpoenas to appear. However, when it came time to answer questions, they pleaded the Fifth. The Denver-based technology company maintained Clinton’s server when it was moved from her Chappaqua, New York, home to a data center in northern New Jersey.
Combetta took the Fifth six times and Thornton took the Fifth four times, before both witnesses were excused.
After each question, they recited a variation of the line: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer and assert my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.”
Cummings said he could “understand” why they were not addressing questions.
But Chaffetz voiced frustration when Thornton declined to even answer whether he’d been questioned by the FBI. GOP lawmakers have wanted to question tech officials on the deletion of email records and other alleged attempts to destroy devices.
Chaffetz also said there will be consequences for Pagliano's refusal to appear and for "thumbing his nose at Congress." He didn't specify what the penalties would be but said, "We're not letting go of this."
A letter from Pagliano's attorney released by the committee says Pagliano will continue to assert his constitutional right not to testify.
The only witness remaining after the unfruitful initial questioning was Bill Clinton aide Justin Cooper, who answered lawmakers’ questions.
During that process, he confirmed that he had access to the Clinton server but did not hold a security clearance.
The email issue has shadowed Clinton's candidacy, and Republicans have been steadfast in focusing on her use of a private server for government business, with several high-profile hearings leading up to the election. Democrats insist the sole purpose of the hearings is to undermine Clinton's bid for the presidency.
Chaffetz on Monday escalated the GOP's battle with the FBI after its decision in July not to recommend criminal charges against Clinton for her use of the private email system by serving a top FBI official with a subpoena for the full case file. Chaffetz and other Republicans on the panel said the bureau has withheld summaries of interviews with witnesses and unnecessarily blacked out material from documents sent last month.
“We are entitled to the full file," he said.
Dismissing the "emergency" hearing held late on a Monday, Cummings said: "As far as I can tell, the only `emergency' is that the election is less than two months away."
Chaffetz issued the subpoena to Jason Herring, the acting assistant FBI director for congressional affairs. Herring and six other Obama administration officials appeared before the committee to discuss the investigative files. The witnesses on several occasions said they could not answer the questions from lawmakers in an open forum.

BIAS ALERT: CBS edits out Bill Clinton slip on Hillary health

Hillary Clinton 'didnt think pneumonia was a big deal

CBS Evening News edited out what sure sounded like a Freudian slip and a lawyerly correction when Bill Clinton was talking about how often his wife collapses from dehydration.
“She’s been well, if it is it’s a mystery to me and all of her doctors, because frequently, not frequently, rarely, but on more than one occasion, over the last many, many years, the same sort of thing has happened to her where she got severely dehydrated,” the former president said of Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the office he once held.
The CBS News website posted video showing the exchange, and Clinton’s mid-sentence correction. But when the exchange with Charlie Rose occurred during the nightly newscast, the “frequently, not frequently, rarely” part edited out.
For folks who wonder if the public is being told all there is to know about the former secretary of state’s health, Clinton’s full sentence seemed to hold a tantalizing clue. By the time other news channels, including Fox, picked up the comment, the slipup was gone.
The Daily Caller was first to compare the ex-president’s full statement to the one that aired, and NewsBusters followed up with a side-by-side comparison.
CBS backpedaled Tuesday and included the full quote on their morning newscast. NewsBusters claimed it was only the latest example of deft editing by the liberal media to make Hillary Clinton look good, or her opponent, Donald Trump, look bad.
"The clip in question from former President Clinton’s interview with Charlie Rose ran in its entirety on CBS THIS MORNING, CBSNews.com and on CBSN, CBS News’ 24/7 digital streaming news service," Richard Huff, Executive Director of Communications for CBS News, said in a statement. "One clip that ran on CBS Evening News was edited purely for time while on deadline for the live broadcast."
Last month, CNN edited Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway speaking on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” to make it appear that Conway promised Trump would refrain from personal attacks. In fact, Conway said she didn’t approve of personal insults by candidates, but made no pledges on behalf of Trump.

Powell warned Clinton not to make him fall guy over email scandal, leaked messages reveal

Wall of silence at Clinton email hearing

Colin Powell attempted to persuade Hillary Clinton and her aides to not use him as a scapegoat for the controversy surrounding her private email server, according to leaked emails hacked from the former secretary of state’s Gmail account.
In the emails, which were obtained by The Intercept, Powell wrote to at least one confidant about his repeated warning to Clinton not to blame him for the scandal.
“I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hampton’s party to get their attention. She keeps tripping into these ‘character’ minefields,” he wrote. He also had tried to settle the matter in a meeting with Clinton aide Cheryl Mills in August.
In a separate email, Powell said he “warned her staff three times over the past two years not to try to connect it to me. I am not sure HRC even knew or understood what was going on in the basement.”
Powell had previously accused Clinton of trying to “pin” the scandal on him after Clinton told federal authorities in July that Powell had detailed to her his email practices under George W. Bush, according to a New York Times report in August.
The paper cited a passage from an upcoming book about Bill Clinton’s post-presidency that read, “Powell told her to use her own email, as he had done, except for classified communications, which he had sent and received via a State Department computer.”
Powell’s emails from his Gmail account were leaked by D.C. Leaks, a website that releases hacked emails from U.S. military officials and politicians and is said to have ties to Guccifer 2.0, who some believe has tied to Russian Intelligence.
According to The Intercept, Powell regularly exchanged emails with reporters and friends about Clinton’s server controversy, explaining that his situation had been different than Clinton’s. Powell never setup a private server and used a government computer for classified matters.
The Clinton campaign’s attempt to try to say Powell had encouraged the use of a private server left him deeply troubled.
“They are going to dick up the legitimate and necessary use of emails with friggin (sic) record rules. I saw email more like a telephone than a cable machine,” Powell wrote to business partner Jeffrey Leeds. “As long as the stuff is unclassified. I had a secure State.gov machine. Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris.”
Clinton had sought Powell’s advice about his private email account during a June 2009 dinner at former Secretary of State Madeline Albright’s house. Powell gave Clinton “written guidance on why and how [he] had been doing it.”
A spokesperson for Powell said in a statement last month that he had talked to Clinton about describing his use of his personal AOL account for “unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department. At the time there was no equivalent system within the Department.
"He used a secure State computer on his desk to manage classified information," the statement added.

Trump Deplorables Cartoons

Hillary

Duterte wants US forces out of southern Philippines

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he wanted U.S. Special Forces out of his country’s south and blamed America for inflaming Muslim insurgencies in the region, in his first public statement opposing the presence of U.S. troops.
Washington said it had not received a formal request to remove U.S. military personnel. White House spokesman reiterated that Duterte had tendency to make “colorful comments” and drew a comparison with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Duterte’s relationship with the U.S. has been a bit rocky since he became president in June. Duterte has been openly critical of American security policies aimed to chart a foreign policy that would not depend on America, his country’s treaty ally.
The U.S. military deployed troops to train, advise and provide intelligence and weapons to Filipino troops battling Al Qaeda-linked militant group Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines in 2002, but when most of them pulled out last year, the U.S. kept a few military advisers.
Duterte hasn’t specified on how he plans to pursue his wishes.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the U.S. was aware of Duterte’s comments, but was “not aware of any official communication by the Philippine government to that that effect and to seek that result.” Kirby reiterated U.S. commitments to its ally.
In opposing the U.S. military presence in the southern Mindanao region, Duterte cited the killing of Muslims during a U.S. pacification campaign in the early 1900s, which he said was at the root of the long restiveness of minority Muslims in the largely Catholic nation's south.
"For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land," Duterte said in a speech to newly appointed government officials.
He showed photos of what he described as Muslim Filipinos, including children and women, who were slain by U.S. forces in the early 1900s and dumped in a pit in Bud Daho, a mountainous region in southern Sulu province. American soldiers stood around the mass grave.
"The special forces, they have to go. They have to go in Mindanao, there are many whites there, they have to go," he said, adding that he was reorienting the country's foreign policy. "I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go."
Last week at the ASEAN meetings, Duterte sparked controversy with his comments about President Barack Obama. He used the phrase "son of a bitch" in warning that he wouldn't accept lectures from Obama on human rights, which led to Obama canceling the meeting.
Despite the remark, the two leaders later shook hands and had a brief chat in a holding room where Duterte reportedly said his words were not directed at Obama.
Duterte, however, has continued to press his criticism of the American president.
In another speech late Monday, Duterte said for the first time that he deliberately skipped a meeting between Southeast Asian leaders and Obama at the summit in Laos out of principle. His spokesman said at the time that Duterte did not attend the meeting because of a migraine.
American colonial forces killed many Muslims in the southern Philippines more than a century ago "because you were here as imperialists, you wanted to colonize my country and because you had a hard time pacifying the Moro people," Duterte said in the speech.
While criticizing U.S. policies, Duterte has taken steps to repair relations with China, which were strained under his predecessor over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Clinton's 'deplorables' gaffe touches off merch, meme frenzy

Just days after Hillary Clinton said she regretted calling half of Donald Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables,” some of those supporters are embracing the title -- while enterprising web retailers seize the moment by quickly churning out a line of "deplorables" merchandise.
Clinton made the comment at a fundraiser Friday, saying "you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," and calling them "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it."
Clinton walked back the remark the next day, with some commentators comparing it to Mitt Romney's "47 percent" gaffe.
Some pro-Trumpers, however, are adopting the "deplorable" name on social media, or at least having a lot of fun with it. One Internet meme that zipped around showed a doctored version of a poster for the 2010 movie “The Expendables,” replaced with key figures of the Trump campaign and conservative media, with the banner “The Deplorables.”
Former Trump adviser Roger Stone tweeted out the image Saturday, which features a cast of rogues including Stone, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and "alt-right" mascot Pepe the Frog.
Perhaps sensing a movement, a number of retailers began selling T-shirts and other merchandise that allows the “deplorables” to advertise themselves as part of Clinton’s despised group.
A T-shirt available for purchase on the Howie Carr Show’s website declares “Proud to be a Deplorable” while e-commerce website Etsy has a host of merchandise from various sellers, including mugs that label the drinker a founding member of “The Fraternity of the Basket of Deplorables” and a pendant that says simply: “Call me Deplorable – Trump 2016.”

Clinton says she didn't think pneumonia diagnosis disclosure 'was going to be that big a deal'

Hillary Clinton defended herself Monday over her campaign's lateness announcing her pneumonia diagnosis, saying she's "already met a high standard of transparency" while looking forward to returning to the campaign trail.
The Democratic presidential nominee told CNN in a phone interview she did feel dizzy and lost her balance while attending a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in New York, but now is "feeling so much better."
"I was supposed to rest five days, that's what they told me on Friday, and I didn't follow that very wise advice," Clinton said.
She told CNN her campaign didn't make her diagnosis on Friday public because "I just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal"
"I thought that I could just keep going forward and power through it, and obviously that didn't work out so well," she said.
When asked about her husband's comments in an interview with Charlie Rose to be aired on CBS and PBS that she occasionally has become dehydrated and gone through similar medical episodes in the past, Clinton said it is "something that has occurred a few times over the course of my life."

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"What happened yesterday was that I just was incredibly committed to being at the memorial, as a senator on 9/11, this is incredibly personal to me," she told CNN.
"I could feel how hot and humid it was. I felt overheated. I decided that I did need to leave, and as soon as I got into the air conditioned van, I cooled off, I got some water, and very quickly, I felt better," she said.
She added that now she is taking her doctor's advice "to just take some time to get over pneumonia completely."
As she is taking time off, Bill Clinton will host fundraisers and at least one campaign event while his wife recovers.
The former president will headline two fundraising events Tuesday in Los Angeles and a campaign event Wednesday in Las Vegas, Fox News learned Monday.
Hillary Clinton did call into a fundraiser event Monday night in San Francisco after she took to social media earlier in the day to give an update on her health.
“Thanks to everyone who’s reached out with well wishes!,” Clinton tweeted Monday afternoon. “I’m feeling fine and getting better.”
The incident Sunday -- in which Clinton appeared unsteady and needing assistance from aides -- has resulted in her and Republican rival Donald Trump each planning to release more personal health information.
The 70-year-old Trump said Monday that candidate health is now an “issue” in the White House race.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said on MSNBC that the campaign will release more information in the next couple days.
Trump told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” earlier Monday morning that he’ll be releasing “very, very specific” details from a recent physical.
“I think they’re going to be good. I feel great,” he said. Fox News has learned Trump plans to release those details during his appearance Thursday on “The Dr. Oz Show.”
As for Clinton’s health, Trump said: “Something’s going on, but I just hope she gets well and gets back on the trail.”
Clinton, 68, is resting at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
Her doctor revealed she had been diagnosed Friday with pneumonia, after the episode at the 9/11 memorial, in which Clinton was also seen stumbling on her way to her van when leaving.
Clinton’s doctor also said she had become “overheated and dehydrated” at Sunday’s ceremony, but is “recovering nicely.”
The incident fueled questions about Clinton’s health. Trump on Monday brushed aside any speculation that Clinton might be replaced as the Democratic nominee, but said of the candidate’s health: “I think it’s an issue.”
Trump, meanwhile, continued to criticize Clinton for saying -- before her health episode -- that half of his supporters fall into a “basket of deplorables.” Clinton has expressed regret for the remarks, but Trump said, “I think this is the biggest mistake of the political season.”
Even before Monday’s comments, Trump already had said both candidates should release detailed medical records.
Clinton’s campaign earlier released a July 2015 letter from Dr. Lisa Bardack describing Clinton as “a healthy 67-year-old female whose current medical conditions include hypothyroidism and seasonal pollen allergies.” The letter noted her elbow fracture in 2009 and concussion in 2012. Bardack detailed how Clinton had to undergo “anticoagulation therapy” to dissolve a clot, and experienced “double vision for a period of time,” after the concussion.
But the campaign has not released detailed records beyond that.
Former President Obama adviser David Axelrod rapped Clinton Monday on her "penchant for privacy."

Pence says voters have 'right to know' about medical records, hits back at 'deplorables' remark

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said Monday on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the Trump campaign will continue to criticize Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" remark, while adding that voters have a "right to know" about candidates' medical records.
The Indiana governor said he and Donald Trump "wish her well” after the Democratic presidential nominee suffered a medical episode at a 9/11 memorial in New York Sunday. Her doctor later said she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday and was being treated for dehydration.
"We’re praying for her swift recovery, (we) want to see her back out on the campaign trail," he said.
Pence told Baier that Trump had a physical on Friday, and he will release "all that information about his health and physical condition" soon.
"I think it's very appropriate our candidates make that information available," he said.
He later described Clinton's remarks at the Barbara Streisand fundraiser in New York as "shocking."

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"For Hillary Clinton to literally say that millions of Americans are irredeemable, I think what you saw there in a prepared speech [was] the worst statement I have ever heard by a national candidate in my lifetime," Pence told Baier.
Pence responded to Clinton's accusations about Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin by saying that Trump is not endorsing the "small and bullying" Russian leader.
"Look, when Donald Trump and I said that the small and bullying president of Russia was a stronger leader on the world stage than this president and Secretary Clinton, that was not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin," Pence said. "That was an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have practiced on the world stage."
Pence added that he and Trump "know what they're dealing with" with Putin, describing the leader harshly as a former KGB agent and authoritarian who has repressed the media, been associated with violence in his country and the invasions of Ukraine and Crimea.
"What you hear in Donald Trump is a man who is prepared to step onto the world stage as the leader of the free world and engage in diplomacy," he said.