A separate point in today’s Jolt:
Bill and Chelsea Step in with Helpful Lies
Notice: We’ve now heard from Chelsea Clinton before we’ve heard from Hillary Clinton.
But on Saturday Chelsea Clinton defended her mother and her family’s foundation, which she says has always “addressed and answered” all concerns over conflicts of interest.
“I believe that historically, all of those possible conflicts have been addressed and answered,” the youngest member of the Clinton family said. “And we will have to continue to do that in the future to ensure that we are able to do the work that we are called to do and with the right partners along the way.”
Unsurprisingly, that is completely false: “There are no indications any Clinton Foundation donations were ever sent to the State Department for approval.”
Here’s what Bill is saying:
“My theory about all of this is disclose everything and then let people make their judgments,” Clinton told moderator Larry Wilmore of the cable channel Comedy Central. “I believe we have done a lot more good than harm and I believe this is a good thing.”
Yeah, that sounds great, except they didn’t disclose everything, like the seven foreign governments that gave to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state:
While the foundation has disclosed foreign-government donors for years, it has not previously detailed the donations that were accepted during Clinton’s four-year stint at the State Department . . . The Washington Post reported last week that foreign sources, including governments, made up a third of those who have given the foundation more than $1 million over time.
When you hear Bill Clinton talk about the importance of disclosure, think back to this statement from him:
Now, there are a lot of other questions that are, I think, very legitimate. You have a right to ask them; you and the American people have a right to get answers. We are working very hard to comply and get all the requests for information up here, and we will give you as many answers as we can, as soon as we can, at the appropriate time, consistent with our obligation to also cooperate with the investigations.
And that’s not a dodge, that’s really why I’ve — I’ve talked with our people. I want to do that. I’d like for you to have more rather than less, sooner rather than later. So we’ll work through it as quickly as we can and get all those questions out there to you.
That was January 22, 1998, after he had denied a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, in response to a question of “exactly what your relationship was with Ms. Lewinsky, and whether the two of you talked by phone?” Of course, that information was never provided to the press until the Starr Report.
The Clinton family may not practice true transparency in their operations, but they almost make up for it in the transparently shameless strategy in these scandals.
UPDATE: This morning, Hillary Clinton appeared at a Clinton Foundation event with Chelsea, discussing “A Data Driven Analysis of Gender Equality.”
Indeed, Madam Secretary, it is amazing what people can learn when they have access to data stored on computers.