Hillary’s Lies About Her White House Records

From the Republican National Committee:

Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton watch the crowd and procession of VIPs during the formal dedication of the Clinton Presidential Center, November 19, 2004.

Hillary’s Library Fiction

Hillary Claims Her White House Records Are Available While Bill Issues Directives To Keep The Records Locked Down

FICTION: Hillary Says All Of Her White House Health Care Records Are Available:

Hillary: “Now, All Of The Records, As Far As I Know, About What We Did With Health Care, Those Are Already Available.” (Sen. Hillary Clinton, MSNBC Democrat Presidential Candidates Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/07)

• FLASHBACK 2004: Hillary Says Everything Will Be Available. “That’s one of the things the library really stands for. It physically stands for openness with all the glass and the light. But he wants it to be a place where people come and really study. And everything’s going to be available.” (CNN’s “Larry King Live,” 11/17/04)

NON-FICTION: Millions Of Pages Of Hillary’s White House Records Remain Locked Down In Little Rock:

After Three Years, The Clinton Library Has Only Released One Half Of One Percent Of Its Records. “Nearly three years after the Clinton Library opened–and more than 21 months after its trove of records became subject to the Freedom of Information Act–barely one half of 1 percent of the 78 million pages of documents and 20 million e-mail messages at the federally funded facility are public, according to the National Archives.” (Michael Isikoff, “Papers? I Don’t See Any Papers,” Newsweek, 10/29/07)

“[N]early 2 Million Pages Of Documents Covering Her White House Years Are Locked Up In A Building Here, Obscuring A Large Swath Of Her Record As First Lady.” (Peter Nicholas, “Clinton’s First Lady Records Locked Up,” Los Angeles Times, 8/14/07)

• “Clinton’s Calendars, Appointment Logs And Memos Are Stored At Her Husband’s Presidential Library, In The Custody Of Federal Archivists Who Do Not Expect Them To Be Released Until After The 2008 Presidential Election.” (Peter Nicholas, “Clinton’s First Lady Records Locked Up,” Los Angeles Times, 8/14/07)

• It Could Be “Years” Before Hillary’s Records Are Made Available To The Public. “Asked how long it might be before Hillary Clinton’s records are released, the library’s chief archivist said it could take years.” (Peter Nicholas, “Clinton’s First Lady Records Locked Up,” Los Angeles Times, 8/14/07)

FICTION: When Asked If She Would Lift The Hold On Her Records, Hillary Claimed That It Was Not Her Decision:

NBC’s Tim Russert: “But there was a letter written by President Clinton specifically asking that any communication between you and the president not be made available to the public until 2012. Would you lift that ban?” (Sen. Hillary Clinton, MSNBC Democrat Presidential Candidates Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/07)

Hillary: “Well, that’s not my decision to make, and I don’t believe that any president or first lady ever has. But, certainly, we’re move as quickly as our circumstances and the processes of the National Archives permits.” (Sen. Hillary Clinton, MSNBC Democrat Presidential Candidates Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/07)

NON-FICTION: Former President Clinton Took Unprecedented Step Of Controlling First Lady Records:

Former President Clinton Has Given Archivists Instructions To “Tightly Control” Disclosure Of Records, Including Communications Between Hillary And Himself. “But documents NEWSWEEK obtained under a FOIA request (made to the Archives in Washington, not the Clinton library) suggest that, while publicly saying he wants to ease restrictions on his records, Clinton has given the Archives private instructions to tightly control the disclosure of chunks of his archive. … Another restriction: ‘communications directly between the President and First Lady, and their families, unless routine in nature.’” (Michael Isikoff, “Papers? I Don’t See Any Papers,” Newsweek, 10/29/07)

Neither Of Clinton’s Predecessors Controlled The Release Of Their Wives’ Papers. “But other Archives records NEWSWEEK reviewed show Clinton’s directives, while similar, also go beyond restrictions placed by predecessors Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, neither of whom put any controls over the papers of their wives.” (Michael Isikoff, “Papers? I Don’t See Any Papers,” Newsweek, 10/29/07)

LITERARY REVIEWS: Experts Agree That Hillary’s Unreleased Records Are A Political Liability:

Time’s Mark Halperin: “[T]hose documents I think are headed to becoming what is very dangerous for any politician. Those documents are becoming famous because they’re secret. And most documents in a campaign or in a government where they’re famous for being secret, the person who’s keeping them secret faces a lot of pressure to make them public.” (PBS’ “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” 10/31/07)

National Journal’s Linda Douglass: “[T]here were many questions about whether the Clintons themselves were forthcoming about their past in Arkansas, about things that went on in fundraising in the White House. This brings all of that back.” (PBS’ “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” 10/31/07)

The Wall Street Journal: “Apparently we are supposed to believe that the former President would refuse his wife’s request to release those records if she asked.” (Editorial, “Hilliam Clinton,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/1/07)

The Politico’s Roger Simon: “[C]oncealment doesn’t play well with the American people. If you conceal something, they want to know what you’re hiding. If you won’t tell them, they assume you’re hiding something. They don’t like it.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 10/31/07)

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “[H]er husband is the guy she is using as the number one trolley to the White House. She can’t give him a call and say, hey dear, why don’t you release the documents so I can brag about my record at the White House?” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 10/31/07)

• Matthews: “She won’t even let us see the records. … If you’re running on your record as First Lady, let’s see the records … Let’s see ‘em. Let’s see what you’re bragging about here.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 11/1/07)

CNN’s Jack Cafferty: “[W]hen Clinton was asked why she wouldn’t release her White House records from the time she was first lady, her answer was, well that’s not my decision to make. Baloney. Whose decision is it — the Easter Bunny’s? Come on.” (CNN’s “The Situation Room,” 10/31/07)

CBS’ Jeff Greenfield: “The Clinton campaign has been very successful in not going back to any of that turmoil of the ’90s. The notion that there’s stuff that’s being restricted potentially opens the door to asking questions about, well, the travel office where the independent counsel said she had been factually false? How did her brothers get pardons for two felons after being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars? How did she raise $100,000 trading cattle futures?” (CBS’ “Evening News,” 10/31/07)

Los Angeles Times‘ Andrew Malcolm: “Well, it didn’t take long after last night’s debate for Hillary Clinton’s waffling over keeping her first lady documents secret to ignite a firestorm. … [T]hose are the years and times that candidate Clinton now constantly cites as proof that she has the experience necessary to become president. So, trust her, she says, it’s all there. You just can’t see it.” (Andrew Malcolm, “Clinton Library Secrets II: Hillary Also Trips Over Her Sealed Papers,” Los Angeles Times‘ “Top Of The Ticket” Blog, latimesblogs.latimes.com, 10/31/07)

• Malcolm: “C’mon, is there anyone who honestly believes that Hillary Clinton is not involved in not releasing her papers? So, what’s to hide?” (Andrew Malcolm, “Clinton Library Secrets II: Hillary Also Trips Over Her Sealed Papers,” Los Angeles Times‘ “Top Of The Ticket” Blog, latimesblogs.latimes.com, 10/31/07)

Hilariously, the DNC’s paid stooges at the Washington Post have given the Republican National Committee two of their feared Pinocchios — for their lies about Hillary and her records at the Clinton library:

Clinton vs. the GOP On Presidential Papers

THE CLAIMS

Thursday, November 1, 2007; Page A04

To hear Republicans talk, any delay in releasing Clinton presidential records is the fault of the Clintons. Hillary Rodham Clinton, on the other hand, would have us believe that she and her husband have nothing to do with the release of their own records. So, who is telling the truth? …

THE PINOCCHIO TEST

Nobody comes off very well on this one. Republicans lack credibility when they criticize the Clintons for dragging their feet on the release of presidential records. The 2001 Bush executive order reversed many of the gains made during the Clinton years on access to government archives and the release of previously secret information. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton should not pretend she is just an innocent bystander.

Two Pinocchios for both Clinton and the Republican National Committee.

Where did the Republicans “criticize the Clintons for dragging their feet”? All I have seen from them on this subject are these direct quotes from or about the Clintons.

Are the quotes somehow supposed to be lies? If so, the Post never bothers to explain how.

No, the important thing for the Post is to somehow convince its benighted readers that both sides are equally wrong in this.

“Sure, Hillary is hiding the very record she is running on, but both sides are at fault. So let’s drop the subject, okay?”

It is preposterous, but that is the Washington Post’s job. They have to service their DNC masters.

Of course there are not enough Pinocchios in the world to measure the mendacities the Post puts out, day in and day out.

But for their sheer gall we give the Washington Post’s latest mendacity full (five of five) marks.

Congratulations!

(Maybe the WP reporter is angling for a job on Hillary’s staff.)

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