4/26/15 Memo: Clinton Cash Unravels

MEMO FROM: Brian Fallon, Hillary for America National Press Secretary TO: Friends and Allies DATE: April 26, 2015 RE: Schweizer appearances on Sunday shows We greatly appreciate all of the support we have gotten from all of you in helping us beat back the false innuendo contained in Clinton Cash. Over the course of the past week, what was billed as a “bombshell” book, written in the “voice of a neutral journalist” and “meticulously” sourced, has turned out to be nothing more than a tangled web of conspiracy theories – without a shred of evidence. Today, we believe we turned a corner as the author himself, Peter Schweizer, conceded multiple times on national TV that his conspiracy theories lack any evidence and that he omitted key facts from his own reporting. I highly recommend you watch the entire interview from This Week. Some highlights: After it was established that the key figure who was said to have profited from the alleged quid pro quo had actually sold his stake in Uranium One two years before Hillary became Secretary of State, Schweizer was forced to admit that he left that key element out of the book: STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, but you didn't disclose in your book that he had sold the interest. SCHWEIZER: Yes. Next, Schweizer was asked about the multi-agency approval process that Uranium One underwent to gain approval for its sale and was forced to admit that the State Department does not control the review process: STEPHANOPOULOS: But the assistant secretary who sat -- the assistant secretary of State who sat on the committee said she never intervened on any CFIUS issue at all. SCHWEIZER: Well, I think that deserves further scrutiny. I would question that. ... STEPHANOPOULOS: But based on what? Based on what? SCHWEIZER: Well, I think based on her (INAUDIBLE)... STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you have any evidence that she actually intervened in this issue? SCHWEIZER: No, we don't have direct evidence. Finally, when asked about these alleged briefings in Congress, Schweizer admits that he briefed only Republicans – as a result of “a friend that asked,” – and not any Democrats. In Schweizer’s other interview of the day, with FOX News Sunday, Chris Wallace was also able to get Schweizer to admit that the core elements of his argument are flawed. Schweizer conceded that CFIUS consists of eight other Cabinet agencies besides the State Department, that he doesn’t have a single piece of evidence that Hillary was involved in approving the Uranium One deal, and that the State Department representative

presiding over the case also said she had nothing to do with it: WALLACE: OK. And CFIUS is that the committee that approves in October of 2010 the sale to Russia. SCHWEIZER: Right. WALLACE: … This is precisely the point that the Clinton campaign has hit back on hard, because CFIUS is a committee of nine agencies. Not just the State Department. SCHWEIZER: Correct, yes. At multiple points in the interview, Wallace challenged Schweizer him, saying “You don’t have a single piece of evidence that she was involved in this deal” and “there’s no indication that Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton took direct action.” Finally, even some Republicans sought to distance themselves from the book’s false allegations. On NBC, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson told reporters that there was "no evidence of a quid pro quo," and that "Republicans need to be careful not to overstate the case."