By Kelly Riddell, WASHINGTON TIMES
The ongoing WikiLeaks dump of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails has exposed the corruption and cronyism of her campaign and time in office. Everyday there are more revelations of wrongdoing, so much so, it’s hard to keep up with. So here’s the top 10 double-dealing, dishonest discoveries uncovered thus far.
1. Mrs. Clinton had cozy and improper relationship with the mainstream media.
CNN contributor and then adviser of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile gave the Clinton campaign advanced notice of a CNN town hall question that she thought may give Mrs. Clinton pause. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign lauded a New York Times reporter for “teeing up” stories for them, and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos for hammering home their talking points. The Boston Globe helped Mrs. Clinton’s team maximize her presence in New England during the primaries and CNBC’s John Harwood bragged to them about dogging Donald Trump during a Republican primary debate he moderated.
2. The State Department paid special attention to “Friends of Bill.”
After the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake, a senior aide to then-Secretary of State Clinton repeatedly gave special attention to those identified by the abbreviations “FOB” (Friends of Bill) or “WJC VIPs” (William Jefferson Clinton VIPs), referring to the former president. The emails show Mrs. Clinton’s State Department prioritized and benefited Mr. Clinton’s friends in the $10 billion recovery effort. The State Department also polled the popularity of Mr. Clinton in Haiti and shared the results with him.
3. Mrs. Clinton argued for “a hemispheric common market with open trade and open borders.”
Mrs. Clinton’s dream for America looks a lot like the European Union. She reportedly told investors in a paid speech to Brazilian Banco Itau in 2013: “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, sometime in the future with energy that’s as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.” Without borders, there are no countries, including the United States.
4. The Clinton campaign was in touch with Department of Justice officials regarding the release of her emails.
Brian Fallon, Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman and former Justice Department staffer, appeared to have discussions with sources inside the DOJ about ongoing open records lawsuits requesting access to her emails while serving as secretary of state. In an email from May 2015, Mr. Fallon said that “DOJ folks” had “informed” him about the upcoming status conference in one of the lawsuits.
5. The Clinton camp was tipped off to the release of the Benghazi emails.
In April 2015, Clinton campaign Deputy Communications Director Kristina Schake referred to a “tip” from a source regarding when the State Department planned to release Mrs. Clinton’s Benghazi emails. Mrs. Clinton’s lawyer Heather Samuelson followed up on the tip, writing: “Latest: Still aiming for Friday, but potential it gets delayed until early next week because still moving through interagency review process. Will check back tomorrow and keep you posted. Quick update on this — DOS says the release of the 300 will likely happen on Thurs or Friday. Will keep you posted as I hear anything further on my end. Thx.”
6. Mrs. Clinton admitted sometimes her public and private positions differ.
In a 2013 speech before the National Multi-Housing Council, Mrs. Clinton indicated her public positions may differ with her private positions, because politics is an ugly business.
“Politics is like sausage being made,” Mrs. Clinton said. “It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody’s watching, you know, all of the backroom discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.”
7. Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman mocked Catholics and evangelicals as “severely backwards.”
Hacked emails show Mrs. Clinton’s campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri and other Clinton allies openly talking about Catholics being “severely backwards” and charging that they don’t know “what the hell they’re talking about.” The April 2011 discussion between Ms. Palmieri and John Halpin, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, mocks media mogul Rupert Murdoch for raising his children in the Catholic Church and said that most “powerful elements” in the conservative movement are all Catholic.
8. Mrs. Clinton admitted she has a hard time relating to the struggles of the middle class.
In a 2014 speech for Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, Mrs. Clinton admitted her riches and public persona lifestyle isolated her from the financial struggles of most of the country, saying her memories of her childhood is how she connects now to everyday Americans.
“Obviously, I’m kind of far removed because the life I’ve lived and the economic, you know, fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy,” Mrs. Clinton said of relating to the middle class.
9. Mrs. Clinton campaign used Benghazi as a distraction from the email scandal.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign tried to make her email scandal disappear during the Benghazi probe by trying to conflate and confuse the two separate incidents. Mr. Podesta told aides in March 2015 to steer the media’s attention from the email scandal to the House Benghazi investigation, which they felt had already been painted in the media as a Republican witch hunt.
10. The Clinton team strategized on how to delay releasing emails, knowing it was against the law.
After receiving a subpoena for her emails, Clinton insider Phillipe Reines in March 2015 discussed strategies to use as an excuse not to release all of her emails. It appeared to constitute a conscious effort of the Clinton camp to frustrate and delay a congressional subpoena. Mr. Reines said of the emails: “Not flippantly, and maybe just from Nick’s [Merrill, Clinton spokesman] mouth — but rather than going around on how to release the 55k let’s just be for what’s happening and use this as an excuse. Because we can say even if State has equities, not providing them would put her in legal jeopardy OR we can say happy for them to have it, happy for them to have them as soon as State is comfortable.”
It’s absolutely disturbing to see how far our government has fallen, how does the wife of an impeached president have the RIGHTS to run for president while still married to the president that was booted out the White House! We need a LAW PROTECTING AMERICA FROM PROVEN CORRUPT PRESIDENTS HAVING SPOUSES BE THEIR KEY TO GET BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE!! Also! We need to elect someone other than James Comey!! He said there was no INTENT shown in the case AN will not reopen it? All these emails he’s never seen AN she’s never denied !! She smashed her phone with a household hammer! Paid to have her servers bleached! THAT IS BLATANT INTENT!
Bottom line in her RUSH TO BREAK A FEDERAL LAW! She didn’t consider her friends, family and coworkers that she emails to WOULD be able to be hacked AN NONE OF THEIR SERVERS WAS BLEACHED so she got BUSTED ANYWAY!! Where is this 99% conviction rate of the FBI? Is HILLARY the 1.%… they have us so ashamed in other countries news! Canada keeps talking on their news about how the American People he believes will be victims of HITLER like propaganda tactics via the biased western media!
We have NEVER been so humiliated by allowing CLINTON to be in this campaign!!! #WakeUpAmericans
The US Constitution is modelled on a view of how George III should have behaved and run the show. Further despite a big clean up of 18th century, “jobs for the boys,” and, “who you know besides what you know,” by and since President Chester Arthur, it is still notorious that about 20 000 top public appointments change per party networks with each Presidential inauguration – and similarly in the States. Now if you want to go “Mandarinate” and exams entry only as the French did, there is always going to be some cronyism about because people are human.
As a warning look at how the British who have a very tight entry and permanence to civil service posts have loosened up by allowing ministers temporary civil servants “special advisers” who are brazenly party people. Also the putting out to contract of large swathes of what had been public service has just led to and increase in top salaries to no benefit to anybody except the contractors, and an increase in court cases about entry and letting the contracts.
@ Austin:
The leadership of the GOP has, as expected, sided with the leftists.
Elite sticks with elite and both stick it to the American masses.
@ stevenl:
That may be, but we are also witnessing at least 10-20 good solid reasons for impeaching the top US Government, from the President down.
We are witnessing A “Coup d’Etat of the US Gvt and elitocracy against the Constitution and the American people!!!
One important failure was described on NY Times investigation article on Hillary, with references and pictures, shows that Hillary was a key person who lead the activities of attacking Kaddafi and opened the gate to terror organizations into Libya and Europe, while “Kaddafi was the best success of western countries in his last 15 years, with pro-western co-operation” per a top Israeli analyst, Ari Shavit. Article is on: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/hillary-clinton-libya.html
“Some senior US intelligence officials had deep misgivings about what would happen if Colonel Qaddafi lost control. In recent years, the Libyan dictator had begun aiding the United States in its fight against Al Qaeda in North Africa.”-
From some reason I am almost the only one talking about it. WHY??
The coalition of the Shameful Hillary-WH-DOJ-SD-FBI-Mass Media may allow her to succeed where Nixon failed. It is an Anti-America coalition of Shameful.
The shameful coalition want to make it an emotional issue.
The matters of States can NEVER be run on emotions!