The Four Words Charles Krauthammer Used to Characterize Action Hillary Clinton Took With Her Emails

"She burned the tapes."

That's how conservative political analyst Charles Krauthammer characterized Hillary Clinton's move to store her emails as secretary of state on a private home server.

"This is really an elaborate scheme, very obvious, not done for convenience, but done to conceal, and that’s what this is all about," Krauthammer said Wednesday on Fox News. "George is right, she burned the tapes."

"And obviously, as her defender James Carville said, you don't want Louie Gohmert, meaning a Republican member of Congress, going through her emails," he continued. "That's the point. Not convenience."

The veteran political pundit then offered a reason as to why he thinks she took such actions.

"It was to prevent the Republicans or really the government, the Freedom of Information Act, the public from looking at her emails, which is required by State Department regulation, a departing official, I'll read you, must ensure that all record material that they possess is incorporated in the department's official files," he said. "And if you don’t, if you willfully remove or destroy the records, the penalty can be fines, imprisonment, or both."

Challenged by Fox News host Bret Baier over why similar criticism hasn't been leveled against Collin Powell or Condoleezza Rice's lack of signed OF-109s, Krauthammer didn't give in.

"It's not the OF-109," he contended. "It's the entire scheme that she did to remove the files, to burn the files essentially, and it wasn't her job to decide what's private or not. Once you leave the government, it is clear that the regulations are that the department archivists are the ones who decide what is government and what is not, and she decided and then acted to destroy the files."

(H/T: Real Clear Politics)

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