MSNBC's Joe Scarborough Monday accused President Barack Obama of rigging the process in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton while the FBI continues its investigation into her use of a private email server, after Obama offered a "guarantee" Sunday that there is no political influence into the probe.
"He said he wasn't going to talk to the attorney general about the pending investigation, but he just did, as he did back in October when he said, 'No national security issues here. Nothing to see, move along," Scarborough said during a panel discussion on his
"Morning Joe" program about an interview Obama gave with Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday.
During the
Sunday interview, Obama told Wallace that Clinton, who served as his secretary of state during his first term in the White House, would "never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy," and that he would "guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department."
Obama used the word "guarantee" six times during the Fox interview, according to
The Wall Street Journal, as Wallace kept pushing him on the question.
"How many times do I have to say it, Chris? Guaranteed." Obama finally told the Fox News host.
However, the president did concur that Clinton showed a "carelessness" when it came to her use of a private server, located in her upstate New York home, to conduct State Department business.
"Can you guys believe what we just heard?" Scarborough said, after watching a clip of the interview. "And then in the same interview [he] said, 'I'm not talking to my attorney general about it.' Talk about a rigged process."
"Isn't this the same president … that wanted to throw reporters in jail and was more aggressive with reporters about classified secrets being leaked than any president?" Scarborough also said.
"This is the president that's saying no big deal when the State Department is saying that there are at least 22 emails that would cause 'exceptionally grave damage to America's national security if released.' If a reporter passed that information on, this president would have them in jail already."
Further, Obama is "making a fool" of FBI Director James Comey by saying he's reached a conclusion on the investigation, said Scarborough.
Bloomberg Politics Managing Editor Mark Halperin agreed that Obama seemed "ill advised" to deny any connection to the investigation, while saying "but here's what I know about it and here's my conclusion. In theory, he shouldn't really know the facts of the case . . . he should have said 'I want to leave this to the independence of the Justice Department.'"
Scarborough said that he believes Obama has got to have someone informing him of the case's facts, if he has concluded that Clinton's activities did not risk national security, and co-host Mika Brzezinski said that Obama may as well have endorsed the former first lady.
And when Brzezinski asked Scarborough to name the "four words of the day," Scarborough said, "rigged, rigged, rigged, rigged."
"He's making the case," said Halperin of the Obama interview. "It's like he's Clinton's communications director."
Meanwhile, New York Rep. Pete King commented on Fox News'
"Outnumbered" program that he believes Obama's comments meant he was talking to the Justice Department and the FBI.
"That is clearly a signal he does not want Hillary Clinton to be indicted, have any legal issue at all, even with the FBI make a report or recommendation or referral, but Jim Comey is a pretty independent guy," said King.
"They are taking this seriously. Despite the image out there, it was classified later on technically?"
And, King pointed out that he has been on the House Intelligence Committee, and there is information in Clinton's emails that "puts lives at risk."
"This is not something, this is information anyone would have known is top secret and should not have been on a private server," said King. "This is very serious."