Rep. Jim Himes on Thursday sought to defend the Clinton Foundation from its critics, but the Connecticut Democrat said that staff at the Foundation and State Department “could have used an awful lot more discipline around that separation.”
Himes, a Hillary Clinton supporter, was a guest on “New Day” on CNN, and though he offered a vigorous defense of the foundation and its charitable work, he conceded that there were problems of perception related to the overlap between the organization and the State Department under Clinton.
“I think what you can say is there were staff members of the foundation communicating with staff members of State, and all of those staff members probably could have used an awful lot more discipline around that separation,” Himes said.
Himes also responded to criticism of Clinton’s refusal to hold a news conference — something the Democratic nominee hasn’t done in 264 days.
“I’d love to see her do more press conferences,” Himes said.
“I think both candidates should be as accessible to the press as they can be,” he said. “I’m in favor of them both doing more speaking.”
Himes said he was glad to hear Clinton’s comments, made in an interview on CNN on Wednesday night, further apologizing for her use of a private email server while Secretary of State.
“I am happy to hear it. This whole email controversy, which has dogged her and her campaign for a long time, I suspect would have been a much smaller controversy if a year ago, she had used language like that,” Himes said.
