Editorial: Lying about her lies

While the media chase around Donald Trump hyperventilating over every syllable, Hillary Clinton slides by, dragging behind her a dust devil of lies and corruption.

More emails released this week reveal that the Democratic candidate turned the State Department into an adjunct of the Clinton Foundation as she jetted around the world as secretary of state. “This is another example of the Clinton business model of using political influence to get rich and further advance their political careers,” The Wall Street Journal noted on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton continues to prevaricate and deceive about her private email server. She’s now telling lies about her lies.

Last week, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace played video clips of Mrs. Clinton saying she “did not email any classified material to anyone on my email” and that there was “no classified material.” Video also showed her saying she was confident she had “never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time.”

Mr. Wallace then reminded Mrs. Clinton that “after a long investigation, FBI Director James Comey said none of those things that you told the American public were true.” Mrs. Clinton responded in typical fashion by offering viewers more fiction. “Director Comey said my answers were truthful,” she said, “and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails.”

But as Jacob Sullum at Reason.com pointed out this week, that’s not what Mr. Comey said during congressional testimony in July. When Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., asked Mr. Comey if Mrs. Clinton was telling the truth when she said there was nothing marked classified on her e-mails, he said her comments were “not true.” Mr. Comey also disputed Mrs. Clinton’s assertions that she didn’t email any classified material, that she used only one device, that she returned all work-related emails to the State Department, and that her lawyers reviewed the content of every one of her emails.

Appearing on “Meet the Press” last Sunday, Tim Kaine covered for his running mate, surmising that Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Wallace appeared to be “sort of talking past each other” during their interview. Mr. Kaine said that Mrs. Clinton meant that her answers to the FBI were truthful.

But Mr. Wallace didn’t ask about the FBI interview. He was asking her if she had misled the public, which she did.

Hillary Clinton is a subtle yet habitual liar. Her apparent strategy for overcoming this glaring character flaw is to continue peddling falsehoods and count on the media to stay focused on her opponent.