Hillary Clinton pounds NY Times for ‘schizophrenic’ email coverage

Hillary Clinton in her new book pounds The New York Times for its coverage of her email controversy during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“The Times, as usual, played an outsize role in shaping coverage of my emails throughout the election,” Clinton wrote in “What Happened,” which was released Tuesday.

“To me, the paper’s approach felt schizophrenic.”

In an interview to promote the book, Clinton admitted her decision to set up a private email server for official State Department business was a “dumb decision,” but added the media coverage turned it into “a dumber scandal.”

{mosads}“It was a dumb mistake, but it was an even dumber scandal,” Clinton told NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Tuesday.

“What if the Russians hadn’t been literally encouraged by Donald Trump to do even more to disrupt the election?” she asked. “What if the Supreme Court had not reversed the Voting Rights Act, which I was proud to vote for when I was in the Senate, and I still maintain the kind of protections to make sure that no American is disenfranchised?”

Clinton in her book said the email controversy put her on the defensive to the point she thought she “must be going crazy.”

“It was like quicksand: the more you struggle, the deeper you sink. At times, I thought I must be going crazy,” the former first lady and senator wrote.

Clinton showed disgust that The Times heavily covered then-FBI Director James Comey’s letter late in the campaign indicating the investigation into her emails was being reopened because she felt his letter consisted of “zero evidence of wrongdoing and very few facts of any kind.”

She is also critical of Comey’s July 2016 assertion that she acted in an “extremely careless” fashion. 

“I was angry and frustrated that Comey had used his public position to criticize me, my staff and the State Department, with no opportunity for us to counter or disprove the charge,” she wrote.

Clinton argued that the Times carried out a longtime grudge against her during last year’s election.

“Over the years, going all the way back to the Whitewater inquisition, it’s seemed as if many of those in charge of political coverage at the New York Times have viewed me with hostility and skepticism,” she wrote.

“As a result, a lot of journalists see their job as exposing the devious machinations of the Clinton Machine,” she added. “The Times has by no means been the only — or even the worst — offender, but its treatment has stung the most.”