Politifact deals with the quantity of lies, not their quality. “I turned over all the work related emails” is a somewhat more significant lie than “My opponent wants old people to eat dog food,” or “I voted against raising the deficit,” yet they count the same on Politifact.

Mrs. Clinton’s reputation for untrustworthiness may be due in part to her highly controlled, manufactured public persona. When you have no apparent convictions, and when you parse your words as carefully as the Clintons, and when your life is a negation of the principles you claim to hold, you seem dishonest, even if you accurately represent your votes on the issues.