Democratic U.S. House candidate Emily Cain said Tuesday that she continues to support presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in response to an attack from the National Republican Congressional Committee pushing her to weigh in on the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server for government business.
The push comes just days after FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress describing the discovery of more emails possibly linked to an investigation of Clinton’s private email server.
Cain, who is running a close race against U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, endorsed Clinton last year and said she has already cast her ballot for Clinton. But Cain also said Tuesday she would like to see more information made available to voters about the emails discovered during a recent investigation into sexual misconduct by Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of Clinton’s top aides.
“I’ve said from the beginning that Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server was a mistake,” Cain said in a prepared statement. “We have too little information to draw new conclusions about Secretary Clinton, and I believe the FBI should immediately release all of the information it has about these new emails so voters can make informed decisions.”
She also criticized Poliquin for “ducking and dodging” questions on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and said a key difference between the two candidates is “I’ll always tell the truth and be straightforward about my beliefs.”
Michael Byerly, press secretary for Poliquin, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The presidential race has become a major talking point in the 2nd District race, in part because of the effect it’s expected to have on drawing out voters, but also because of the positions the candidates have taken. While neither has been overly eager to talk about the presidential race, Cain has said she supports Clinton while Poliquin has not commented on whether he supports Republican nominee Donald Trump and has been hesitant to comment on Trump’s character.
The discussion has prompted national party committees on both sides to take aim at the 2nd District candidates and their positions on the presidential race.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has posed several questions to Poliquin about Trump, including his thoughts on whether Trump should honor the results of the election, which he hasn’t commented on; and Trump’s vulgar comments on women, which Poliquin addressed in a tweet by calling them “repulsive.”
Cain on numerous occasions has said she feels it is important for voters to know where the candidates stand on the presidential race and has said previously she supports Clinton because she is focused on growing the middle class and good jobs.
Poliquin, meanwhile, has said that voters didn’t elect him to get involved in the “media circus” surrounding the presidential race and he is focused on other issues facing the district.
Cain, in a debate last month on Maine Public Radio, said, “It’s not about media circus. It’s about telling the truth, about being clear and honest. It’s not about whether we always agree, it’s about whether or not we can be trusted to stand up and tell the truth when it comes to fundamental questions about the direction of our country.”
The NRCC, in its release attacking Cain, questioned whether Cain will “still stand behind FBI target Hillary Clinton, who recently had her email scandal show enough probable cause of a crime to have a judge grant the FBI a search warrant?”
“Emily Cain has tried her hardest to make the race in Maine’s 2nd District about the top of the ticket instead of what she would do in Congress,” the release states, “so now it’s time for her to answer for Hillary Clinton’s FBI investigation.”
The FBI has not said yet whether it will re-open its earlier investigation and the Clinton campaign, like Cain, has also called on the agency to release more information about what they have found.
In a statement Friday, Hillary for America Chairman John Podesta said that in the months since the close of the investigation, “Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been baselessly second-guessing the FBI.”
“Already, we have seen characterizations that the FBI is ‘reopening’ an investigation but Comey’s words do not match that characterization,” Podesta said. “Director Comey’s letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the director himself notes they may not even be significant.”
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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