Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Wednesday said he agrees that Hillary Clinton should not have access to classified information during the presidential campaign.
“Based on her conduct in this private server matter, I don’t think she is fit to handle classified information, nor are the people around her,” Mr. Cotton, a Republican, said on “Fox and Friends.”
“Unless she is elected president, in which case it’s unavoidable, I don’t think that she should be receiving classified information,” he said.
Mr. Cotton said among the most damning facts FBI Director James B. Comey laid out Tuesday was that Mrs. Clinton used personal email extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related emails in the territories of the United States’ adversaries.
Mr. Comey said that while Mrs. Clinton was reckless in her private email set-up, he would not recommend criminal charges in the case.
“To put it in context … I don’t travel with my electronic devices anywhere overseas — not even to a place like Canada,” Mr. Cotton said. “I certainly don’t go to our adversaries’ territories. Hillary Clinton is unfit to be handling our nation’s most sensitive secrets.”
Speaking on Fox News Tuesday evening, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Mrs. Clinton should not receive intelligence briefings typically afforded to major-party presidential nominees.
“I think the DNI, the director of national intelligence, should block her access to classified information,” Mr. Ryan said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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