Late Night’s Seth Meyers covers Hillary Clinton’s email scandal

Seth Meyers takes a closer look at Hillary Clinton’s growing email scandal on Late Night

Throughout the current election season, late-night TV has primarily focused on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, leading to accusations of bias by supporters of the billionaire businessman, as well as backers of Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who feel the scandals involving Hillary Clinton haven’t been extensively covered. However, that may change as a scathing inspector general’s report was released last week that claimed Clinton never sought approval for her email setup, which violated the State Department’s record-keeping rules, proving that the controversy is far from over. The report’s findings were more closely examined by Seth Meyers on Late Night in a recent episode.

Meyers began by calling the email scandal the “story that just won’t die,” or as various political pundits have put it, yet another “drip, drip, drip,” that she didn’t follow the rules.

“If you’re wondering why so many Democrats are attracted to Bernie Sanders, this is kind of why,” Meyers said, before joking, “Bernie doesn’t have any ‘drip, drip, drips,’ which for a 74-year-old man is pretty remarkable.”

However, the comedian added that “not every revelation about Clinton’s emails has been entirely factual,” noting that a report saying that 147 FBI agents had been detailed to investigate her use of a private server was inaccurate; the number was actually closer to 12 full-time agents. Regardless of the number, the situation has prompted Clinton to repeatedly apologize, as evidenced by a montage Meyers showed where the politician consistently said that she should have used two separate email accounts, one personal and one work-related. “At this point, if she wins, she’s going to end up saying that as her oath of office,” added Meyers.

He then pointed out that the recent report contradicts her claims that her email arrangement was allowed under the State Department’s rules, but soon dismissed the entire controversy  as “boring,” joking that he uses news coverage of the scandal to put his baby to sleep at night. One of the more interesting aspects of the report is that it claims Clinton’s private emails were going to the spam folder of other members of the State Department, “probably because Hillary’s personal email address is FreeBonerPills@Rocketmail.com,” Meyers joked.

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The host conceded that Clinton failed to turn over every department-related email when she left, but chided the system in place where every single email has to be printed and filed in order for it to be preserved, jokingly adding that “every time she texted someone an emoji, she had to take a picture of herself making that expression and fax it to Congress.”

He also criticized the government’s reliance on out-dated technology (the nuclear program still uses floppy disks), and the overclassification of information, as evidenced by former CIA director Michael Hayden’s claims that an email he sent saying, “Merry Christmas,” carried a top secret classification from the NSA.

But critics have pointed out that there seems to be a double standard in play, where whistle-blowers and lower level officials are often punished for mishandling classified information, while the same rules don’t seem to apply to higher level officials like Clinton.

Meyers added that the revelations are unlikely to hurt her among her supporters, but it provides more fodder for her detractors, who view her as less trustworthy than Littlefinger from Game of Thrones. It’s also opened her up to attacks from Trump, who recently said at a rally that he thinks Joe Biden will replace her as the Democratic nominee due to the growing controversy.

The Late Night host concluded the segment by advising any federal officials investigating Clinton’s use of a private server to forward questions to FreeBonerPills@Rocketmail.com. Watch the entire clip below:

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As Clinton inches closer to clinching the Democratic nomination – officially setting up a general election match-up with Trump – it may prove more difficult for political satirists such as Meyers to ignore her faults, particularly if she limps across the finish line by losing remaining primary states like California to Sanders.

Late Night with Seth Meyers  airs Monday to Thursday at 12:35 a.m. on NBC.