Clinton's absence from the public eye comes at a price
Sources tell CBS News the FBI will soon release notes from its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email servers. According to the State Department, her latest emails given to the FBI include “approximately 30 documents” that may be related to the Benghazi, Libya attack that killed four Americans.
This comes as Clinton returns to the campaign trail Wednesday after spending most of the past two weeks fundraising, which her aides say was always the plan for the end of summer. But this has come at a price, fueling a new talking point for Donald Trump, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
“She doesn’t do rallies of any consequence,” Trump said of Clinton.
Clinton did phone into two cable news shows last week, promising -- as she has for months -- that she will do a news conference at some point.
“Stay tuned. There will be a lot of different opportunities for me to talk to the press,” Clinton told CNN.
Trump has held at least 14 news conferences this year. His combative approach is a far cry from Clinton’s -- she’s generally too busy ignoring reporters to insult them.
She did take eight questions at a journalism conference earlier this month.
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“I may have short-circuited,” she admitted, regarding her explanation on her emails controversy at the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ joint convention in Washington earlier this month.
But two of the questions were on her least favorite subject, which could help explain her aversion to the format.
“I have acknowledged repeatedly that using two email accounts was a mistake,” Clinton said.
As election nears, Trump has grown less accessible too. Nearly all of his recent TV interviews have been with Fox News, and Democrats note he still has not released his tax returns, or explained discrepancies in the glowing letter released by his doctor.
“He said, ‘the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.’ So that physical problem that caused him to not serve in the military has cleared up apparently,” Clinton’s vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine said in Pennsylvania.
Clinton wrapped up her coast-to-coast fundraising tour Tuesday night. Her 22 fundraisers in the wealthy enclaves of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape Cod, The Hamptons plus California, netted at the very least a combined $31 million for her and the Democratic party.
As for Trump, it appears his controversies have caused wealthy Republicans to keep wallets shut. A new analysis by USA Today found wealthy Democrats and liberal groups have given nearly three times as much money as Republicans, and a lot of that Republican giving went to down-ballot races.