but struck me as so apt 'today,' had to spread it around.

Sorry ellen we use to be friends.

F.B.I.’s Critique of Hillary Clinton Is a Ready-Made Attack Ad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/us/politics/clinton-campaign-trump.html?

We see this in the workplace a lot, and most people have probably turned an error into a mistake at least once in their lives.
Classic example:

A child breaks a figurine, that's an error; an accident.
That young person might show remorse and express humility and a desire to do better.
Or, they might make the choice to deny responsibility, blame others, diminish the significance of the behavior.

The differences are dramatic and the good or the damage done to one's character (and to the climate of the home or workplace) that result from the post-behaviors always far outweigh the significance of the act.

With many politicians, it is a pattern that repeats.

for the breakage is about intention. The breakage was happenstance, the reaction to it is choice. The breakage is both an error and a mistake. The decision to lie about the breakage is a freely selected and chosen behavior.