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Bush to NBC: Clinton Needs to Come Clean

Jeb Bush told NBC News that Hillary Clinton lacks integrity and said he is confident voters will undergo a “transformation.”
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Jeb Bush told NBC News that Hillary Clinton lacks integrity and said he is confident voters will undergo a “transformation” and look to him once they begin to more seriously consider who they want as their next president.

"This is like a repeat of the 1990s again," Bush said Friday of the ongoing email controversy that has plagued Clinton’s campaign. "I think she needs to come clean."

This week, the Democratic presidential frontrunner agreed to turn over her server to authorities on the same day an intelligence community inspector general found two classified emails on the server. Clinton has maintained that she never sent or received information that was classified at the time, though it is possible emails got classified retroactively.

"Mrs. Clinton seems not to be able to have integrity and to tell the truth, and if she has not done anything wrong just be honest about it and show it," Bush said.

The Republican presidential candidate said Clinton "had a duty to protect this information" and suspects the Russian and Chinese governments now have the content on the server.

Bush spoke to NBC News during his four hour swing through the Iowa State Fair where he spoke on the soapbox, tried a deep-fried Snickers, and even enjoyed a cold beer. The former Florida governor has been slipping in the polls and how hard he’ll compete in the Iowa caucuses remains uncertain.

"Over the long haul, there will be a transformation. People will say, 'Who’s going to sit behind the big desk to make the changes necessary for our country to move forward?' If it’s about appealing to people’s angst, I don’t think I’m going to win," Bush said.

But the brother of one president and son of another said he campaign has the infrastructure and organization to last a long, grueling campaign.

"We’re very, very early on," Bush said. “At this point last time around, I think Michele Bachmann was winning the Republican polls in Iowa.”

Almost exactly four years ago, Bachmann won the now defunct Iowa Straw Poll, once thought to be an indicator of who would do well in the caucuses.

— NBC's Andrew Rafferty contributed to this report.