Fox News anchor Bret Baier apologized Friday for reporting that federal investigators had determined that Hillary Clinton’s private email server had been hacked and that an investigation would lead to an indictment of Clinton after the election. As I reported on Thursday, Baier, during an interview with Fox’s Brit Hume, said that a separate FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation would continue and barring obstruction they will continue to an indictment.
Baier said, after checking with his sources, there is no evidence at this time for either statement:
I explained a couple of times yesterday the phrasing of one of my answers to Brit Hume on Wednesday night, saying it was inartful the way I answered the last question about whether the investigations would continue after the election and I answered that, “yes, our sources said it would.
They would continue to likely an indictment.” That just wasn’t inartful, it was a mistake and for that I’m sorry. I should have said they will continue to build their case.
Baier made his apology Friday morning during a “Fox News alert” with Fox News anchor Jon Scott.You can watch a video clip of Baier’s apology below:
Transcript of the video (via Real Clear Politics):
BRET BAIER: All of us who’ve been working this story at FOX have now circled back with our sources, more than six of them now with specific knowledge of the Clinton investigations. They confirmed that there is an active investigation into the Clinton Foundation that has been going on for more than a year, it is continuing and for those investigators working it it is a priority.
We have also reported that there is a split, not only between the FBI and Department of Justice on this, but within the FBI. On the hacking of Clinton’s private unsecured server, while multiple sources believe and are operating under the working assumption that the server has been hacked, and some had specific quotes to that belief, there are to this day no digital fingerprints of such breaches…
I was quoting from once source about his certainty that the server had been hacked by five foreign intelligence agencies and while others believe that is probable because of confirmed hacking of email accounts that Secretary Clinton communicated with.
As of today, there are still no digital fingerprints of a breach no matter what the working assumption is within the bureau. All the time, but especially in a heated election, on a topic this explosive every word matters no matter how well-sourced which brings me to this.
I explained a couple of times yesterday the phrasing of one of my answers to Brit Hume on Wednesday night, saying it was inartful the way I answered the last question about whether the investigations would continue after the election and I answered that, “yes, our sources said it would.
They would continue to likely an indictment.” That just wasn’t inartful, it was a mistake and for that I’m sorry. I should have said they will continue to build their case. Indictment obviously is a very loaded word, Jon, especially in this atmosphere and no one knows if there would or would not be an indictment no matter how strong investigators feel their evidence is. It’s obviously a prosecutor who has to agree to take the case and make that case to the grand jury. We stand by the sourcing on the ongoing active Clinton Foundation investigation and are working to get sources with knowledge of the details on the record and on camera, hopefully today.
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