This morning, the former secretary of state was in Atlanta for a speaking engagement before the National Association of Convenience and Fuel Retailing (NACS). As the AJC reported yesterday, members of the media were barred from the session. Today it reported that a “cone of silence” had descended on her remarks. “Convention officials banned all video and sound recording, social media, and naturally, journalists,” wrote the AJC’s Greg Bluestein and Jim Galloway.

What happens when a public figure tries to suppress a speech? Does no one find out about what happened? No, of course not. Rather, the speech’s contours get communicated to the public in dribs and drabs, with no documentary guarantee of their accuracy.