Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Hillary Clinton’s email controversy raises “very serious questions about judgment” and thus her ability to be president of the United States.
“It’s pretty serious stuff,” he told CNN’s Jamie Gangel in an exclusive interview. “I do think it raises very serious questions about judgment. I’ve never heard her really explain why she had the system the way she did and what about those 30,000 (emails), or however many it is, she destroyed.”
“It’s strange. There’s unanswered questions there and it does raise doubts, I think, legitimate issues to be discussed, when you’re evaluating somebody to be the commander in chief,” added Cheney, a former secretary of defense.
The State Department announced Friday that it will not release 22 emails from Clinton because they contain “top secret” information, the highest level of government classification.
The announcement, coming the weekend before the Iowa caucuses, will likely provide fodder for Clinton’s political opponents, especially Republicans, who will possibly make note of the emails’ “top secret” designation.
Clinton’s email use has haunted her on the campaign trail since it became public early last year that she maintained a private server while leading the State Department.
Cheney said Clinton has never provided a clear explanation as to why she used a separate server.
“We used to have, when we were there — it wasn’t quite as up-to-date as it is today in terms of technology, but we had a basket outside the door to the Situation Room where any electronic gear had to go in that basket: a cell phone, a pager or whatever it might be,” Cheney said. “You didn’t take it into the room, because it could conceivably be reversed engineered, or in some fashion, threaten security.”
Cheney, asked if the fierce fight on the GOP side has hurt the party’s general election chances, said the Republican presidential candidates are in a stronger position than the Democratic field.
“The process we’re going through now ultimately will produce a nominee,” Cheney said. “I don’t see anything that’s been done that can’t be fixed or sort of put back together, if you will, going forward.”
“You have studiously avoided any comment on Donald Trump,” Gangel said. “Any chance you’d like to comment today?”
Cheney laughed.
“No,” he said.
