President Barack Obama defended Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state in an interview aired Sunday when asked about her email use.
Obama said on “Fox News Sunday” that he hadn’t been “sorting through each and every aspect of this.”
“Here’s what I know. Hillary Clinton was an outstanding secretary of state. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy,” he said. “I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America’s national security. Now what I’ve also said is that — and she’s acknowledged — that there’s a carelessness in terms of managing emails that she has owned. And she recognizes that. But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective.”
Obama continued, complimenting her time as secretary of state. Obama told Fox News host Chris Wallace that he can “guarantee” that Clinton wouldn’t be protected by the Justice Department.
“Just to button this up,” Wallace began.
“I guarantee it. I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department or the FBI, not just in this case but in any case. Period,” Obama responded.
“And she’ll be treated no differently,” Wallace said.
“Guaranteed, full stop. Nobody gets treated differently when it comes to the Justice Department because nobody is above the law,” Obama replied.
“Even if she ends up at the Democratic nomination?” Wallace asked.
“How many times do I have to say it, Chris?” Obama countered. “Guaranteed.”
The ongoing FBI investigation focuses on whether classified information was mishandled on the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s email server. Clinton is not said to be the target of the investigation.
