Hillary Clinton failed to make history in the way she desired, so the former Democratic nominee for president is trying to re-write it.
Clinton said Sunday her husband Bill Clinton should “absolutely not” have resigned in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The former first lady and secretary of state said in a CBS interview she didn’t think her husband’s affair with 22-year-old Lewinsky when she was a White House intern was an abuse of power, because Lewinsky was an adult at the time.
Clinton tersely replied, “absolutely not,” when asked whether Clinton should have resigned following the scandal. When pressed further, she diverted the subject to President Donald Trump’s widely reported allegations of infidelity and sexual misconduct. The problem with Clinton’s what about-ism tactic is that while inappropriate if true, the accusations against Trump occurred before his presidency. Clinton’s accused behavior happened prior to and during his time in office.
Before Lewinsky, Bill Clinton refused to settle a lawsuit with Paula Jones. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones alleged Clinton summoned her to a hotel room and repeatedly made sexual advances towards her, which she rebuffed. Jones also asserted that Clinton and his friends in Arkansas government worked to ruin her reputation and career. The Jones v. Clinton lawsuit came forward during Clinton’s presidency, but he argued that a president should be immune from civil lawsuits. Clinton even referenced John F. Kennedy’s legal troubles through inauguration. However, Kennedy addressed those issues privately and never sought federal protection.
On Nov. 13, 1998, Clinton finally settled with Jones for $830,000 — the entire sum of her claim without an apology — in exchange for her dropping the appeal. Clinton’s problems didn’t stop at Jones. In fact additional ethical failings came to light because of it.
Ken Starr, the former special prosecutor tasked with investigating a multitude of Clinton corruption issues including the failed Whitewater real estate dealings, Vince Foster’s death, Travelgate and the Lewinsky scandal, knows better than most about what he calls the Clinton’s contempt of law. In his recently published memoir of the Clinton investigation aptly titled “Contempt,” Starr detailed how Lewinsky entered the national discourse solely because a former White House employee wore a wire to record a conversation her, in part to help the Jones case. In a lunch meeting, Lewinsky admitted to being coerced into signing an affidavit that said she never received gifts or had sexual relations with the president.
Lewinsky eventually testified that Clinton approached her three times about testifying — even suggested she talk to his secretary Betty Currie. During the investigation, Clinton once again sought executive privilege to block prosecutors from questioning his senior aides. However, a U.S. district judge concluded the need to collect all evidence in obstruction of justice superseded the White House’s interest in confidentiality. It was the first time since Watergate proceedings in 1974 that a president tried to claim executive privilege and failed.
Not only did Bill Clinton’s camp seek to block members of his staff from investigation and encourage women to perjure themselves according to Lewinsky’s testimony, he also perjured himself. He lied under oath when he claimed he never had sexual relations with Lewinsky. Tell us again, Hillary, how that’s not an abuse of power.
Fellatio in the Oval Office constitutes as sexual relations. Hidden make-outs and conversations about sexual plans at a place of work would get a CEO fired. Furthermore, it’s flat out tone-deaf for Hillary to normalize that workplace behavior given the current #MeToo climate. Even if you try to rationalize Hillary’s view of two consenting adults, Bill lying about it while under oath cements those actions as a blatant abuse of power.
The Clintons were never the victims of a crazy right wing conspiracy in the ‘90s, like their ardent supporters claimed. He was impeached in the House and tried in the Senate for good reason. As she did with the unlawful use of a private server to send confidential State Department emails, along with her abject failure of handling the Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead, Clinton has a history of twisting the truth and ethics to her will.
Whether it’s demeaning the 63 million people who voted for President Trump as “Deplorables,” or spinning the history of her husband’s career, there is and always has been a complete disconnect with the Clintons and reality. Thanks for proving it again.
