In a bizarre twist to the anti-Clinton crusades of America Rising and Judicial Watch, the two organizations today cried foul when their own investigation into the Clintons’ financial reporting proved everything in question was done with full disclosure, review, and without conflict of interest.
So what do right-wing organizations do when their attacks prove empty? What’s the next step when even a partisan-driven investigation proves everything was done above board and handled with careful attention to ethics and procedure? Cry foul anyway, of course.
“Shame on America Rising and shame on Judicial Watch for yelling ‘fire’ when there isn’t even smoke. Even a right-wing investigation turned up that on 215 occasions during Hillary Clinton’s tenure, Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation fully disclosed the details of his business and speaking arrangements and on all 215 occasions they were without ethical objection or conflict of interest,” Adrienne Elrod, spokesperson for Correct The Record, said. “These folks need something better to do with their time if all they can do is complain about things going right.”
America Rising, an anti-Clinton organization, promoted, “A joint investigation by the Washington Examiner and the nonprofit watchdog group Judicial Watch found that former President Clinton gave 215 speeches and earned $48 million while his wife presided over U.S. foreign policy,” today.
According to the report today, “Under State Department protocols, a ‘designated agency ethics official’ is assigned to advise the secretary of state about ‘potential or actual conflicts of interest;’” and after thorough reviews, no conflicts of interest were found.
In fact, a December 12, 2008, memorandum of understanding was entered into between the Clinton Foundation and the Administration, setting up a thorough disclosure and review process to “not create conflicts or the appearance of conflicts” of interest “for Senator Clinton as Secretary of State.” That memo has been publicly available for six years.
And the big scoop? The protocols worked. Conflicts and the appearance of conflicts were avoided.
Shame on you, America Rising and Judicial Watch, for spinning the facts.
BACKGROUND:
Judicial Watch is “a tenacious political opponent that launched countless probes of the Clinton administration.” “On Thursday, Judicial Watch, a tenacious political opponent that launched countless probes of the Clinton administration, fired its latest legal salvo, nearly a decade after Clinton ended his second term. The group filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the District against the National Archives and Records Administration, saying it should maintain and release the tapes under the Presidential Records Act.” [Washington Post, 10/28/10]
At one point, Judicial Watch was suing the Clinton administration on 18 separate matters. “Richard Mellon Scaife, the Pittsburgh billionaire whose foundations have bankrolled an array of anti-Clinton activities, gave one of his largest grants last year to Judicial Watch, the conservative group suing the Clinton administration in 18 separate matters, newly released records show.” [Washington Post, 6/10/98]