A guide to Clinton scandals from Travelgate to Emailgate
Posted: Sun, 12 Apr 2015 23:05:24
A brief guide to Clinton scandals from Travelgate to Emailgate
By Mark Tapscott
Hillary Clinton is entering the presidential race in a cloud of scandal surrounding foreign contributions to the Clinton family foundation and her use of a private email account and server to conduct official business while secretary of state. But she and her husband are no strangers to scandal.
There often seemed to be no end of the scandals during President Bill Clinton's two terms in the White House and Hillary Clinton's campaigns for the Senate starting in 2000 and the Oval Office in 2008. Political experts began diagnosing "Clinton Fatigue" long ago.
As NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd said shortly after the email scandal broke, "if Clinton fatigue, which is already a disease in the press corps, actually becomes a problem with the voting public, and these polls, maybe this is the first time that it's becoming a problem, that's — that is doom for her."
Hillary Clinton may become America's first woman in the Oval Office despite the heavy baggage of her last name, but the scandals will surely play a dominant role in the 2016 presidential race.
To help readers keep track of them all, herewith is a list of significant Clinton scandals over the years. It is by no means a comprehensive list. The Washington Examiner will update this list as needed in the months ahead.
Travelgate
Soon after her husband became president in 1993, first lady Hillary Clinton allegedly engineered the firing of seven employees of the White House travel office and the hiring of a firm with ties to the Clintons to replace them. Multiple investigations absolved the president of involvement but Hillary Clinton was found to have made false statements to investigators.
Hillarycare secrecy
When first lady Hillary Clinton convened her task force to create her husband's national healthcare program, it included multiple representatives from government, the health and insurance industries and academics. Despite the obvious potential for conflicts of interest in closed deliberations, the task force's meetings were kept secret throughout its existence.
Whitewater
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bill and Hillary Clinton were associates of Jim and Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Development Corp., an Arkansas real estate investment firm that went under when McDougal's Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan was closed by federal regulators for illegal accounting. Taxpayers lost $73 million due to Guaranty. The Clintons lost an estimated $67,000 on their investment, but McDougal helped pay off Bill Clinton's campaign debts, and Hillary Clinton's law firm received an unknown sum in fees for representing a Guaranty project that also failed.
Filegate
Hundreds of FBI background files on officials in previous Republican presidential administrations were improperly given in 1993 and 1994 to Craig Livingstone, the director of White House security who was a Hillary Clinton favorite. No illegal activity was ever proven, and Livingstone ultimately resigned.
Removing files from Vince Foster's office
Vince Foster was President Clinton's deputy White House counsel and long-time friend of Hillary Clinton. He committed suicide in 1993, and his body was found in a park just across the Potomac River from the White House. Files were also allegedly removed from his White House office before investigators were able to secure it as part of the official probe into his death.
Lost Rose Law Firm billing records
Congressional and Justice Department investigators began issuing subpoenas in 1994 for Hillary Clinton's billing records as a partner in the Rose law firm at the center of the Whitewater scandal. She said her role was incidental, but when the records mysteriously turned up in the White House in 1996, they showed she met repeatedly with key figures in the scandal.
Commerce Department's "pay to play" junkets
Seats on Commerce Department international trade missions were sold to corporate figures in return for big contributions to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who was reported to have opposed the scheme, died when one of the missions crashed in Croatia, leading independent counsel Daniel Pearson to leave his investigation unfinished.
Renting Lincoln Bedroom
More than 800 people stayed overnight in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House during President Bill Clinton's tenure. At least $5.4 million in campaign contributions from many of those guests went into Clinton's re-election effort. Among the paying guests were movie producer Steven Spielberg, Dreamworks SKG head David Geffen and long-time Hollywood powerhouse Lew Wasserman.
Read More: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-bri ... ign=buffer
My Thoughts: Just in case you can't remember all of the past and current scandals to show how crooked these two are and will be. Hell, if I had to choose between them I'd vote for Bill way before Hillary, even with all of his baggage.
By Mark Tapscott
Hillary Clinton is entering the presidential race in a cloud of scandal surrounding foreign contributions to the Clinton family foundation and her use of a private email account and server to conduct official business while secretary of state. But she and her husband are no strangers to scandal.
There often seemed to be no end of the scandals during President Bill Clinton's two terms in the White House and Hillary Clinton's campaigns for the Senate starting in 2000 and the Oval Office in 2008. Political experts began diagnosing "Clinton Fatigue" long ago.
As NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd said shortly after the email scandal broke, "if Clinton fatigue, which is already a disease in the press corps, actually becomes a problem with the voting public, and these polls, maybe this is the first time that it's becoming a problem, that's — that is doom for her."
Hillary Clinton may become America's first woman in the Oval Office despite the heavy baggage of her last name, but the scandals will surely play a dominant role in the 2016 presidential race.
To help readers keep track of them all, herewith is a list of significant Clinton scandals over the years. It is by no means a comprehensive list. The Washington Examiner will update this list as needed in the months ahead.
Travelgate
Soon after her husband became president in 1993, first lady Hillary Clinton allegedly engineered the firing of seven employees of the White House travel office and the hiring of a firm with ties to the Clintons to replace them. Multiple investigations absolved the president of involvement but Hillary Clinton was found to have made false statements to investigators.
Hillarycare secrecy
When first lady Hillary Clinton convened her task force to create her husband's national healthcare program, it included multiple representatives from government, the health and insurance industries and academics. Despite the obvious potential for conflicts of interest in closed deliberations, the task force's meetings were kept secret throughout its existence.
Whitewater
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bill and Hillary Clinton were associates of Jim and Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Development Corp., an Arkansas real estate investment firm that went under when McDougal's Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan was closed by federal regulators for illegal accounting. Taxpayers lost $73 million due to Guaranty. The Clintons lost an estimated $67,000 on their investment, but McDougal helped pay off Bill Clinton's campaign debts, and Hillary Clinton's law firm received an unknown sum in fees for representing a Guaranty project that also failed.
Filegate
Hundreds of FBI background files on officials in previous Republican presidential administrations were improperly given in 1993 and 1994 to Craig Livingstone, the director of White House security who was a Hillary Clinton favorite. No illegal activity was ever proven, and Livingstone ultimately resigned.
Removing files from Vince Foster's office
Vince Foster was President Clinton's deputy White House counsel and long-time friend of Hillary Clinton. He committed suicide in 1993, and his body was found in a park just across the Potomac River from the White House. Files were also allegedly removed from his White House office before investigators were able to secure it as part of the official probe into his death.
Lost Rose Law Firm billing records
Congressional and Justice Department investigators began issuing subpoenas in 1994 for Hillary Clinton's billing records as a partner in the Rose law firm at the center of the Whitewater scandal. She said her role was incidental, but when the records mysteriously turned up in the White House in 1996, they showed she met repeatedly with key figures in the scandal.
Commerce Department's "pay to play" junkets
Seats on Commerce Department international trade missions were sold to corporate figures in return for big contributions to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who was reported to have opposed the scheme, died when one of the missions crashed in Croatia, leading independent counsel Daniel Pearson to leave his investigation unfinished.
Renting Lincoln Bedroom
More than 800 people stayed overnight in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House during President Bill Clinton's tenure. At least $5.4 million in campaign contributions from many of those guests went into Clinton's re-election effort. Among the paying guests were movie producer Steven Spielberg, Dreamworks SKG head David Geffen and long-time Hollywood powerhouse Lew Wasserman.
Read More: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-bri ... ign=buffer
My Thoughts: Just in case you can't remember all of the past and current scandals to show how crooked these two are and will be. Hell, if I had to choose between them I'd vote for Bill way before Hillary, even with all of his baggage.
