WikiLeaks’ release of the Podesta emails includes exchanges among Team Hillary on two matters related to her and Bill Clinton’s shady past when it comes to women. In December, 2015 they shared the reaction to Hillary’s bizarre statement that victims of rape and sexual assault “deserve to be believed,” and in January, 2016, they discussed how to deflect or discredit Juanita Broaddrick’s claim that even after nearly 40 years she is still haunted by her alleged rape by Bill Clinton.
In an email chain entitled “FYI,” Team Hillary alerts its members to the fall-out from Hillary’s ridiculously idiotic (given her and husband’s history) statement about women being believed, a credo she and Bill have never lived by.
This all seems to have started with a tweet from Jennifer Epstein, a “reporter” who covers Hillary Clinton for Bloomberg. The tweet itself appears to have been deleted; however, the internet being the internet, it is cached.
This claim was followed up by Jake Tapper tweeting about a woman at a Hillary rally who asked about Bill Clinton’s alleged rape victims.
A month later, in January of this year, Juanita Broaddrick tweeted:
Team Hillary then discussed what to do in order to minimize the damage of Broaddrick’s tweet, especially as it came so soon on the heels of Hillary’s statement about women who claim to have been raped or sexually abused being believed.
After Juanita Broaddrick tweeted in January that former President Bill Clinton raped her, Clinton’s attorney, David Kendall, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, held a call to talk about the case and evidence that could be used to refute the allegations, according to hacked emails released by WikiLeaks.The hacked email, entitled “History of Juanita Broaddrick Allegations,” contained several attachments.The hacked email sent to Podesta from Kendall included a 1998 affidavit signed by Broaddrick. The document states: “During the 1992 presidential campaign, there were unfounded rumors and stories circulated that Mr. Clinton had made unwelcome sexual advances toward me in the late seventies” and goes on to say: “I repeatedly denied the allegations and requested that my family’s privacy be respected. These allegations are untrue and I had hoped that they would no longer haunt me, or cause further disruption to my family.”This affidavit was part of the lawsuit filed by Paula Jones against Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. She was subpoenaed in that case.Kendall noted to Podesta in January of this year that Broaddrick also testified in a deposition in January 1998 reaffirming the contents of the affidavitIn April 1998, however, she told investigators from Independent Counsel Ken Starr’s office that the affidavit was false, said Kendall, who sent part of Starr’s report to Podesta.”Starr was seeking more evidence against the president, any way he could, and he immunized Broaddrick to protect her from any prosecution for perjury if she now changed her story. Voila! She did, disavowing her sworn affidavit and sworn deposition testimony,” wrote Kendall in the email.Also attached to the email was a NBC News story from 1999 recounting a statement Kendall made saying “any allegation that the president assaulted Mrs. Broaddrick more than 20 years ago is false.”Kendall ended the email, saying, “Please let me know if there’s anything else I can provide about this slimefest.”
CNN’s report leaves out some interesting details, like the fact that Juanita Broaddrick was referred to in legal documents as “Jane Doe #5.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times is worried that poor Hillary can’t join in the fun of the furor over allegations of Trump’s sexual impropriety because of her own—and her husband’s—sordid past.
In the past week, as a swirl of sexual assault accusations against Donald J. Trump has prompted a loud national discussion about male power and women’s rights, the first woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee was barely heard from.Though Hillary Clinton has stood at the center of feminist debates for more than two decades, she has at times been an imperfect messenger for the cause. That has never been more apparent than now, as her old missteps and her husband’s history have effectively paralyzed her during a moment of widespread outrage.
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