- The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Bob Woodward, the famed investigative reporter who worked alongside Carl Bernstein in breaking the 1970s Watergate scandal, said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton’s “habit of secrecy” concerning her private email server is a “very serious issue” that may offer a glimpse at how nontransparent her presidency would be.

When asked on “CBS This Morning” what Congress should look for in the FBI’s interview notes with Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Woodward replied, “God knows,” according to a clip obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

“I mean, there are thousands of emails that the FBI said that they uncovered that were not turned over,” he said. “There could be something there, maybe not.”

Mr. Woodward said the Democratic presidential nominee has made light of something that he considers a “very serious issue.”

“So many unanswered questions,” he said. “Let’s face it, Hillary Clinton just has not come totally clean on this. And she would serve herself well if she would do that.”

Mr. Woodward blamed Mrs. Clinton’s handling of the case on “habit of secrecy.”


SEE ALSO: Bob Woodward: Hillary Clinton emails controversy ‘reminds me of the Nixon tapes’


“The whole idea of the private server was so no one would know,” he said. “And it’s a very bad habit. And you really — I mean, I think people say if she became president, are we going to have some kind of transparency? Is there going to be a culture of straight talk, rather than a culture of concealment?

“It’s not about press conferences,” he added. “It should be — she should certainly should have them, but she should do serious interviews with serious people who really want to look at all of this. You can’t do it on the fly. And she’s trying to do it on the fly, and it is a giant mistake.”

Mr. Woodward stressed that the average voter isn’t just looking at a candidate for what they will do as president, but who they are as a person.

The 73-year-old Washington Post editor has previously compared Mrs. Clinton’s private email server to the Watergate scandal that sank President Richard Nixon.

“The answers are probably not going to be pretty,” he said a year ago.

• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.

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