Hillary Clinton was "wrong" for dragging former Secretary of State Colin Powell — "a national institution" — into the email scandal that has plagued her, Rep. Peter King told Newsmax TV.
King, a New York Republican, spoke Wednesday with J.D. Hayworth on "America Talks Live" following revelations in leaked emails Powell was angry for being linked by Clinton to investigations over her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
"Ordinarily, in fact, I do hate the idea of private emails being made public . . . Having said that, it is really intriguing to see what people do think of Hillary Clinton," said King, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
"In this case, Colin Powell, very respected . . . much more moderate than you would be and I would be. But fact is, the nearly caustic feelings he has toward Hillary Clinton really say a lot.
"This is really trying to use a national hero, trying to ensnare Colin Powell in Hillary Clinton's own email scandal is just wrong."
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Clinton's campaign has compared her situation with Powell's use of a private email account during his time as secretary of state under President George W. Bush. Clinton even said Powell recommended she use private email and gave her written guidance.
"Colin Powell was trying to give her advice – it was obviously very temperate advice [with] what she ended up doing," King told Hayworth. "But for her then to turn around and try to use that against him, to put him in the same boat as her, it's just the wrong thing to do.
"Especially with Colin Powell. Maybe all is fair in love and war and politics, but not when it comes to a national institution such as Colin Powell. Here he was trying to do the right thing, and his words get distorted, his advice gets distorted, and she tries to bring him into her scandal."
Powell bristled at Hillary Clinton in what he called a "mini-tantrum" as he said she and her "Mafia" pulled him into her email controversy, newly released emails hacked from Powell's private Gmail account show, according to The Intercept.
In another email, the retired four-star general remarked, "[I] warned her staff three times over the past two years not to try to connect it to me."
And The Daily Caller said in another email, he complained of "Hillary's Mafia" trying to "suck me into" her email dilemma.
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