Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” John Cook, the executive editor for investigations at Gawker Media, said in 2013, after emails from Clinton to Sidney Blumenthal, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, leaked, he “alerted” White House press secretary Josh Earnest that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was using a private email account.
Cook said it was “strange,” President Obama said Saturday he learned about Hillary Clinton exclusively emailing all official State Department business using her private email account when she was serving in his administration from the news, because Cook explained, “I alerted his spokesperson in 2013. I saw it coming from the White House. It’s not like we published a story and they missed it. I emailed Josh Earnest, who is now his spokesperson, and said this email address exists. Does it comport with the presidential records act and freedom of information act. I got no response.”
Last week, Josh Earnest, Valerie Jarrett and President Obama all denied knowing Hillary used a private account maintained by servers at her residence. Cook explained in 2013, after emails from Clinton to Sidney Blumenthal, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, leaked, one of his reporters filed a FOIA request that specifically mentioned Clinton’s e-mail address. Cook said,
“This was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the process. Again, not just for good government groups, but also opposition researchers, all sorts of people who troll through emails and other documents, and literally a conspiracy to frustrate that process.”
He added, “I’m not saying criminal conspiracy. Several people got together and concocted a way to avoid the normal due process of the law taking course with respect to the email records Hillary Clinton created.” Cook said Gawker is “considering suing. I think we’re probably likely to.”