Emails: Hillary's phony transparency

Has Hillary Clinton developed a newfound respect for transparency in the wake of FBI director James Comey's decision to reopen the investigation into her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state?

No. In fact, the only thing transparent about Clinton's reaction to the announcement is her transparent attempt to exploit it for political gain.

In her first public appearance after the announcement Friday, Hillary said, "We are calling on the FBI to release all the information that it has ... let's get it out." Clinton campaign chief John Podesta also called on Comey to "immediately provide the American public more information than is contained in the letter [to Congress announcing the decision]."

The notoriously secretive Clinton is likely betting that the FBI won't review the new trove of emails or make a statement about them in the 11 (now 8) days before the election. By calling on the FBI to release the information, Clinton can get credit for appearing to encourage transparency, which may leave some voters thinking that she wouldn't be doing so if she had something scandelous to hide.

But she very well may have something to hide. As the Washington Examiner's Friday editorial noted, "it would be surprising for Comey to throw such a bombshell into the election without having already received some indication that the newly discovered emails contain something pointedly relevant to deciding whether Clinton or her staff committed crimes."