Archive for May, 2014

Hillary Clinton: No Reason for New Benghazi Probe

Hillary Clinton weighed in Wednesday on the new House investigation into the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, telling an interviewer that questions about the episode have been answered and there is no valid reason to press the matter.

The House on Thursday is expected to formally empower a special committee to look into the 2012 attacks, a move that could give Republicans a fresh opportunity to target Mrs. Clinton in the run-up to a potential presidential campaign.

Get more on foreign policy and how 2016 is shaping up , first thing in the morning, by signing upfor the Capital Journal Daybreak newsletter: http://on.wsj.com/CapitalJournalSignup

Asked if she was satisfied that previous reviews of Benghazi had adequately addressed the tragedy, Mrs. Clinton said: Absolutely. Of course there are a lot of reasons why despite all of the hearings, all of the information thats been provided some choose not to be satisfied and choose to continue to move forward.

She added: Thats their choice and I do not believe there is any reason for it to continue in this way, but they get to call the shots in the Congress.

Mrs. Clinton was speaking to ABCs Robin Roberts at an annual meeting of various New York charities.

Mrs. Clinton has called Benghazi the biggest regret of her four year tenure as President Barack Obamas secretary of state. An independent commission that she created produced a report last year concluding that senior Obama administration officials did not deserve to be disciplined over their handling of the attack.

But some Republicans believe Mrs. Clinton shouldnt be off the hook. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), himself a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said last year that Mrs. Clinton bore responsibility for failing to provide security that might have thwarted the attackers.

Earlier this week, Mr. Paul said he believed Mrs. Clinton should be subpoenaed by the new panel, which will be led by U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.).

Mr. Paul said that we need to know who was responsible, and she was in charge.

See more here:
Hillary Clinton: No Reason for New Benghazi Probe

Clinton Calls Nigeria Kidnappings 'An Act Of Terrorism'

ABC US News | ABC Business NewsCopy

Hillary Clinton today called the kidnapping of more than 300 school girls in Nigeria abominable, criminal and an act of terrorism.

The government of Nigeria has been somewhat derelict in its responsibility to protect children, she said in a conversation with ABCs Robin Roberts. They need to make it a priority.

The former secretary of state added, The Nigerian government must accept help.

Its horrible, Robin, its horrible," she said.

Clintons comments come as global uproar continues to mount over the fate of the hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in mid-April, and just one day after UNICEF confirmed the abduction of 8 more girls.

ABC News Full Coverage: Nigeria Kidnappings

On Tuesday, the White House announced it is sending a team to Nigeria to aid the effort to find the girls and those responsible. On Sunday, Hillary Clinton tweeted her support of the effort to find the girls.

During the question-and-answer session at the Ford Foundation, Roberts also asked Clinton about the renewed interest in the 2012 terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya which could become a stumbling block for Clinton should she decide to run for president in 2016.

Were you satisfied with the answers and are you content with what you know what happened? Roberts asked.

Original post:
Clinton Calls Nigeria Kidnappings 'An Act Of Terrorism'

Ruth Marcus: Monica Lewinsky Does Hillary Clinton a Big Favor

Bill Clinton paid the price of public humiliation and House impeachment, but he moved on, concluding what is remembered as a successful (if tarnished) presidency and a post-presidency at least as successful.

Hillary Clinton, humiliated in her own way, emerged seemingly stronger. Her marriage endured; she became senator and secretary of state. Having put cracks in the glass ceiling, she is poised to break it, should she choose, in 2016.

And then there is Lewinsky, who alone among the protagonists in the national soap opera saw her life irreparably shattered. Bill and Hillary made millions on the speaking circuit. Lewinsky, she writes for the June issue of Vanity Fair, turned down offers that would have earned me more than $10million, because they didnt feel like the right thing to do.

Despite a masters degree in social psychology from the London School of Economics, Lewinsky has never really held a steady job. Because of what potential employers so tactfully referred to as my history, Lewinsky writes, I was never quite right for the position. In some cases, I was right for all the wrong reasons, as in Of course, your job would require you to attend our events. And, of course, these would be events at which press would be in attendance.

Still, 16 years after the scandal broke, she is recognized nearly every day. Now 40, she has never married.

Lewinsky did not exactly turn into a recluse. She launched a line of designer handbags, appeared on Saturday Night Live, hawked a diet program, developed and starred in an HBO documentary about you know what. But she has mostly remained backstage as Clinton Inc. thrived.

So the timing of Lewinskys Vanity Fair piece as the political world awaits Hillary Clintons presidential determination, as Chelsea Clinton prepares to have the first grandchild would seem not exactly fortuitous for the Clintons. Who wants to remember the stained blue dress and presidential phone sex and West Wing thong-flashing?

Lewinsky writes that, in choosing this moment, she was inspired, in part, by the example of Tyler Clementi, the 18-year-old Rutgers freshman who committed suicide in 2010 after his roommate Web-cammed him kissing another man. In the aftermath, Lewinsky writes, my own suffering took on a different meaning. Perhaps by sharing my story, I reasoned, I might be able to help others in their darkest moments of humiliation.

Maybe, although a more compelling reason may have come with the release a few months ago of notes by the late Diane Blair, Hillary Clintons closest friend, in which she quotes the then-first lady describing Lewinsky as a narcissistic loony toon.

Lewinskys response? Yes, I get it. Hillary Clinton wanted it on record that she was lashing out at her husbands mistress, she writes. She may have faulted her husband for being inappropriate, but I find her impulse to blame the Woman not only me, but herself troubling.

Here is the original post:
Ruth Marcus: Monica Lewinsky Does Hillary Clinton a Big Favor

House votes to hold Lois Lerner in contempt

Lois Lerner, former director of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division at the Internal Revenue Service, exercises her Fifth Amendment Right against self incrimination during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill on March 5. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON - The Republican-led House voted Wednesday to hold former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions related to the agency's undue scrutiny of certain tax-exempt groups.

The vote to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress was 231-187, with all Republicans voting in favor and all but a few Democrats voting against.

It's now up to a local U.S. attorney to consider criminal charges against Lerner. The Justice Department, however, has ignored past contempt charges against executive branch officials, including contempt charges against Attorney General Eric Holder.

While the vote may have no practical impact, it does up the ante in the political bout between Democrats and Republicans over the IRS scandal.

Republicans maintain they are determined to get to the bottom of the scandal and find out why IRS officials, starting in 2010, unfairly targeted groups for their political activity.

"All we're doing as Article One is saying an employee of Article Two, the executive branch, didn't properly assert her rights," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., explained to his congressional colleagues Tuesday night in a meeting of the House Rules Committee. "We want Article Three, the federal court, to decide whether or not... we should be entitled to answers to some of our questions. ... Nothing could be less partisan than, in fact, to let the federal court decide."

In addition to holding Lerner in contempt, the House also voted 250-168 to approve a resolution calling on Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS targeting.

Democrats have dismissed the GOP's aggressive pursuit of this issue as a partisan witch-hunt. They've noted that multiple investigations into the IRS have already been launched, including an ongoing Justice Department investigation. Democrats have also stressed that the IRS inappropriately targeted both conservative and liberal groups, while pointing to evidence showing the misconduct wasn't politically motivated.

On top of all that, Democrats assert there is no basis for the contempt charge.

Original post:
House votes to hold Lois Lerner in contempt

Judge: Bensalem officials didn't invoke the Fifth

BENSALEM A federal judge said Tuesday that Bensalem's mayor and police chief had not invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions stemming from a lawsuit against them - and he demanded a written explanation from the attorney who claimed that they did.

U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson said the lawyer, Brian K. Wiley, "acted improperly" when he wrote in a court filing early this year that Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo and head of police Fred Harran, as well as two other township officials, invoked their right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions related to a lawsuit brought by former township Fire Chief David Jerri Sr.

During a hearing on the matter, Baylson said that Wiley may have incorrectly used language from a previous court filing to jump to that conclusion, and that Wiley "had reason to know that was not true."

Wiley was not in court Tuesday, but Baylson - who said he initially believed Wiley's claim - ordered that he file an affidavit explaining his behavior within 10 days.

Christopher Garrell, who represented Jerri on Tuesday, said he was not with the firm when Wiley made the claim, and could not comment.

Harran, who was in court Tuesday, called the case "a big joke."

"They're grasping at straws because they have no case," he said.

The suit was filed last year by Jerri and his son, David Jr., a former township firefighter.

See the rest here:
Judge: Bensalem officials didn't invoke the Fifth