Revisiting the Clinton email controversy in light of Trump's travails The Justice Department investigation of classified documents found at former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club has brought inevitable comparisons to the controversy over Hillary Clinton's private email server that she used while secretary of state. During the contest between Trump and Clinton, we wrote 16 fact checks on the email issue, frequently awarding Pinocchios to Clinton for legalistic parsing. But in light of the Trump investigation, Clinton is trying to draw a distinction between Trump's current travails and the probe that targeted her. She tweeted on Sept. 6: "The fact is that I had zero emails that were classified." We decided it was worth reviewing what we know now about the emails that Clinton received on her private server. After FBI Director James B. Comey in 2016 announced there would be no criminal charges brought against Clinton, congressional hearings and several more investigations that received little media attention revealed new details that, to some extent, mitigates what Comey said at the time. As shown in an FBI photo of some of the documents seized from Trump, many have clear markings indicating they contained highly sensitive classified information. Clinton, in her tweet, suggests none of her emails were marked classified. That's technically correct. Whether those emails contained classified information was a major focus of the investigation, but a review of the recent investigations, including new information obtained by the Fact Checker, shows Clinton has good reason for making a distinction with Trump. Two State Department probes under Trump knocked Clinton for maintaining a private server for State Department communications — but did not hold her responsible for mishandling classified information. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Potential flip-flop watch: Abortion edition When the Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 established a nationwide right to an abortion, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson that the legality of abortion would now be up to individual states. "The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion," Alito said. "Roe and Casey [in 1992] arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives." Many Republican foes of abortion celebrated the ruling as a victory for states' rights. Yet since Alito's draft opinion was leaked on May 2, 28 members of the House have also signed onto a proposed nationwide ban — one that would impose abortion restrictions even in Democrat-led, pro-abortion rights states. This would seem to be a direct contradiction to the idea that states could chart their own course. Blue states that have less restrictive laws in place suddenly would find those laws overridden by a federal law. The Heartbeat Protection Act was introduced in Congress in February of 2021. The text of the law would require an ultrasound technician to check for cardiac activity before an abortion — and then prohibit the procedure if any activity can be detected. This would effectively ban most abortions, as many women would not realize they are pregnant until after this point. Some other laws proposed by Republicans would be even more restrictive. As a reader service, we compiled a full list of these lawmakers, along with their comments on Dobbs and the date they co-sponsored the Heartbeat Protection Act. We repeatedly sought an explanation for the apparent contradiction, but only six lawmakers responded, some making a good case for their position. The other 22 remained silent. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP and @AdriUsero) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
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