The State Department's inspector general report finding fault with Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and her reaction to it, were "devastating," Sen. Jeff Sessions said Saturday morning.
"I think it is serious," the Alabama Republican and close adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign told conservative talk show host
Larry Kudlow on his radio program Saturday, especially when combined with the ongoing FBI investigation into the matter.
"I was a federal prosecutor for 15 years," Sessions told Kudlow. "You heard [FBI Director James] Comey say some time ago that 'we don't do security reviews.' That was a serious statement."
In effect, Sessions said, Comey was saying, without saying the actual words, that the FBI does criminal investigations.
Also, Clinton's denials of wrongdoing in connection with the report were "very devastating to me and it should be to most Americans," Sessions said. "It reflects very badly on her any way you look at it."
The private server was set up to "get around" privacy rules, he continued. He admitted that there were some communications that were personal, and an official could get in trouble using the government's servers for personal communications, but "the way this was done, it was designed to provide protection and avoid disclosure laws."
Sessions said this week said he would consider a request from Trump to become his
running mate, if it's offered. On Saturday Sessions commented on the presumptive GOP nominee's conservatism, saying that Trump does take many conservative stances, including a focus on national security, trade agreements that "protect the legitimate interests of the United States, and making a call to secure the nation's borders.
He further compared Trump to late President Ronald Reagan, saying they both believe a good agreement can be reached through negotiations, and if the agreement is not satisfied, both believe in the power of walking away.
Sessions also lauded Trump's comments that the Republican Party will transform over the next two years as being more the "workers' party."
Working Americans who earn $50,000 a year or less, "don't want welfare," said Sessions. "They want a lawful system of immigration . . . they would like to see trade agreements fixed."
Workers also don't like political correctness, and "they want a party that understands them," Sessions said. "Right now Trump resonates with them.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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