Mike Pence on Sunday questioned why Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Hillary Clinton, has yet to personally release the contents of emails in her possession that are now under scrutiny by the FBI.
“I'm very glad to hear Hillary Clinton calling for putting all of this out on the table,” Pence said on Meet the Press about the FBI’s letter updating Congress about to its investigation into Clinton’s private email server. “Why doesn't she ask her senior aide to release all these emails?”
Clinton has urged the FBI to release all pertinent information that it has on its latest look at emails – none of which the FBI has confirmed are newly revealed or relevant to the case. Federal prosecutors uncovered emails that included Abedin and other Clinton aides on systems confiscated by authorities looking into the devices used by Anthony Weiner, Abedin’s former husband, who is under investigation for sending sexually suggestive material to an underage girl.
The Republican vice presidential candidate also defended Comey’s decision to notify Congress of the potentially new batch of emails despite top Justice Department officials arguing such disclosure of information that lacks substantive detail is not a standing practice of the DOJ, particularly when it could influence an election.
“The F.B.I. director is keeping his word to the Congress that if new pertinent information came forward that justified the reopening of the case, that he would alert the Congress,” Pence asserted. “He has done that.”
The praise from Pence and Trump for Comey, rings in stark contrast to the pair’s denunciation of the bureau’s director who Trump criticized as recently as Thursday.
Pence noted on Sunday that he has a “great deal of respect” for Comey, yet he called it “troubling” that Comey did not file charges and closed the case, questioning whether the DOJ and FBI acted in good faith in their investigation.
Pence now said that Comey should “move forward professionally and in a timely way,” saying the “public has a right to know.”
Trump’s running mate also demurred when asked whether Trump would release his tax returns in the final week before the election, and the VP prospect ignored questions on whether Trump would – as he said himself he would – go through and sue the women who have accused him of sexual predatory behavior during his first 100 days as president.
