First published: October 13, 2016
Update: November 5, 2016 - Adjusted introduction and added sources for email incident
Although I am a liberal and have already voted for the Democratic candidate, I was taken aback by the number of allegations of misconduct by Hillary Clinton. I felt I needed to research the claims to make sure I wasn’t missing something. This page contains the results of my research. I provide a brief synopsis of each incident, a list of the allegations, an explanation, and a link to one or more relevant articles. I have tried to cite only unbiased and authoritative information. I hope it may be useful to others who wish to become better informed and determine for themselves whether the allegations are legitimate.
If you believe additional incidents should be included in this list or if you can find authoritative documentation that any of the information contained on this page is incorrect, please send the additions or corrections to me. For corrections, please include citations and links to the accurate information. Please use this address for correspondence:
LiebtagPoliticalCorrespondence@gmail.com
Wikipedia includes a page devoted to Hillary Clinton controversies. You can find more information here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hillary_Clinton_controversies
For reference, here are the terms and names of the men who were President during the time of these incidents:
| 1969-1974 | Richard Nixon |
| 1974-1977 | Gerald Ford |
| 1977-1981 | Jimmy Carter |
| 1981-1989 | Ronald Reagan |
| 1989-1993 | George H. W. Bush |
| 1993-2001 | Bill Clinton |
| 2001-2009 | George W. Bush |
| 2009- | Barack Obama |
| Date | Incident |
|---|---|
| 1973 | Watergate |
| 1978-1979 | Cattlegate |
| 1970s and 1980s | Whitewater |
| 1991-1996 | Monica Lewinsky |
| 1993 | Hillary Care |
| 1993 May | Travelgate |
| 1993 July | Vince Foster |
| 1996 | Chinagate |
| 1996 June | Filegate |
| 2000 | Senate campaign finance conviction |
| 2001 January | Pardongate |
| 2001 January | Stole White House furniture and silverware |
| 2001-2016 | NSA warrantless surveillance |
| 2009 | State Department spying |
| 2009 | Private email server |
| 2009-2014 | Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of HHS |
| 2011 | Boko Haram |
| 2011 August | Giving Solyndra $535 million |
| 2012 | State Department interference in sexual misconduct investigation |
| 2012 September | Benghazi |
| 2012 November | Uncounted votes from members of the military |
| 2013 | DOJ spying on the press |
| 2013 | IRS targeting |
| 2013 | A123 Systems |
| 2016 | Clinton Foundation |
| 2016 | Muslim Brotherhood |
In addition to the list of incidents shown above, I have found allegations concerning several other matters which I have found no way to address. There are two kinds which I list below.
The first kind of allegation concerns those which make claims about issues which hinge on differences in beliefs about foreign policy.
I leave it up to you to inform yourself about these issues. Personally, I believe the issues in these areas are too complicated to blame their recent history on any single individual or administration.
The second kind of allegation is those for which I can find no unbiased authoritative reporting:
Hillary Clinton worked on the House Judiciary Committee's Watergate investigation.
Zeifman was not Hillary's supervisor and neither he nor anyone else fired her from her position on the Impeachment Inquiry staff.
Sources:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/zeifman.asp
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/09/06/the-zombie-claim-that-hillary-clinton-was-fired-during-the-watergate-inquiry/
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In 1978 and 1979, Hillary Rodham engaged in a series of trades of cattle futures contracts. Her initial $1,000 investment had generated nearly $100,000 when she stopped trading after ten months.
Review of the trading records indicated no impropriety and no charges were ever filed.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_cattle_futures_controversy
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Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal, made real estate investments in the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed business venture in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Clintons were never prosecuted, after three separate inquiries found insufficient evidence linking them with the criminal conduct of others related to the land deal.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_controversy
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Monica Lewinsky was a White House intern with whom President Bill Clinton admitted to having had what he called an "inappropriate relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996.
Hillary Clinton smeared and threatened women with whom her hasband had had affairs. I found these samples online:
Form your own opinion. In my opinion, it is normal for a woman to use disparaging words when refering to women with whom her husband has had affairs.
I could not find a definitive source for information. I provide a link to a sample of what's available in the media:
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The Health Security Act was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Clinton.
Critics of the plan objected to it because it enforced mandate for employers to provide health insurance coverage to all of their employees and was overly bureaucratic and restrictive of patient choice.
Bill Clinton set up the Task Force on National Health Care Reform to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans, First Lady Hillary Clinton, headed the task force. The task force held closed-door meetings.
The D.C. Circuit ruled in June 1993 that the First Lady could be deemed a government official (and not a mere private citizen) for the purpose of not having to comply with the procedural requirements of FACA.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993
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In May 1993 seven employees of the White House Travel Office were fired.
The White House stated the firings were done because financial improprieties in the Travel Office operation during previous administrations had been revealed by an FBI investigation.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_travel_office_controversy
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Vince Foster died in July 1993 while serving as Deputy White House Counsel during the first half-year of President Bill Clinton's administration. Hillary Clinton publicly ridiculed Vince Foster.
Five official or governmental investigations into Foster's death all concluded that he committed suicide
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Foster#Subsequent_investigations
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An alleged effort in 1996 by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics prior to and during the Clinton administration and also involved the fund-raising practices of the administration itself.
The Department of Justice investigation revealed no evidence proving any foreign country channeled funds to the DNC. The Congressional investigation majority report said the evidence painted an ugly picture; the minority report stated the evidence did not support a conclusion that the China plan was aimed at or affected the election. The Attorney General declined to appoint an independent counsel.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_finance_controversy
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In 1993 and 1994 the director of the White House's Office of Personnel Security, improperly requested, and received from the FBI, background reports concerning several hundred individuals without asking permission.
The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Whitewater Independent Counsel investigated. In 1998, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr exonerated President Bill Clinton as well as the First Lady of any involvement in the matter. In 2000 Independent Counsel Robert Ray issued his final report on Filegate, stating that there was no credible evidence of any criminal activity by any individual in the matter and no credible evidence that senior White House figures or the First Lady had requested the files or had acted improperly or testified improperly regarding Livingstone's hiring. A separate lawsuit on the matter brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, lingered on for years and was dismissed by a federal judge in 2010.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_FBI_files_controversy
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Peter Paul helped produce a gala fundraiser for the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign. Hillary thanked organizers of a fundraiser.
Clinton was aware of the fundraiser, but there is no evidence that she knew about underreporting of expenses. The campaign was fined for a reporting violation, not fraud.
Source: http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/crooked-claims-about-clinton/
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President Bill Clinton chose to make 140, nearly a third of his 450 pardons and acts of executive clemency on January 20, 2001, his last day in office.
The U.S. House Committee on Government Reform held an investigation on the matter, but the Justice Department prevented FBI officials from testifying. President Clinton cited executive privilege for his refusal to turn over some documents to Congress related to his decision to offer clemency to members of the FALN terrorist group.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardon_controversy
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/opinion/my-reasons-for-the-pardons.html?_r=0
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In January 2001, former president Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton disclosed that they had received $190,027 worth of gifts during 2000, the final year of their eight-year tenure in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The Clintons voluntarily returned or paid for some gifts due to dispute over whether they had been given to the Clintons personally or to the U.S.
The Clintons were not "forced" to return any gifts, they were not found to have "stolen" any items, and the aggregate value of the objects in question was much less than $200,000.
Source: http://www.snopes.com/hillary-clinton-stole-white-house-furniture/
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The NSA was authorized by executive order issued by George W. Bush to monitor, without search warrants, the phone calls, Internet activity (Web, e-mail, etc.), text messaging, and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lies within the U.S. However, it has been discovered that all U.S. communications have been digitally cloned by government agencies, in apparent violation of unreasonable search and seizure. The Bush administration allegedly ceased the warrantless wiretapping program in January 2007 and returned review of surveillance to the FISA court. Subsequently, in 2008 Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which relaxed some of the original FISA court requirements.
I can not find any direct connection between Hillary Clinton and NSA warrantless surveillance.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(2001-2007)
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In 2009 the United States Department of State issued a confidential directive instructing US diplomats to spy on top officials of the United Nations. The directives were revealed as part of the United States diplomatic cables leak in late 2010. The directive's aggressive goals for information gathering and desire for use of regular diplomats in the gathering was new, and caused a strain in relations between the US and UN.
US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley stated that Clinton had not drafted the directive and that the Secretary of State's name is systematically attached to the bottom of cables originating from Washington. According to former US officials, the instructions given in these cables may have been largely ignored by American diplomats as ill-advised.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spying_on_United_Nations_leaders_by_United_States_diplomats
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During Hillary Clinton's tenure as United States Secretary of State, she used her family's private email server for official communications, rather than official State Department email accounts maintained on federal servers.
As a professional computer programmer who used email extensively for corporate communications throughout the time in question, I have an opinion. In those days, the early days of email, many, if not most, people were unaware of how email worked, the security implications, and were bothered by the cumbersome interfaces and poor performance of central corporate servers. Indeed, I used private email many times rather than using my corporate employer's system for exactly those reasons. I understand and can sympathize with Hillary's decision to be productive rather than 100% secure.
Time line:
Sources:
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/4/13500018/clinton-email-scandal-bullshit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton_email_controversy
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Kathleen Sibelius served as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) from 2009 to 2014
I can find no authoritative mention of the accusation.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius
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Boko Haram is a Nigeria-based militant group known for the 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.
Clinton issued the terrorist designation in 2011, but the process is a complex one with a lot of input from a lot of competing interests and the State Department formally designated Boko Haram as a terrorist organization until 2013. The decision "was resolved before it ever reached her level."
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Solyndra designed, manufactured, and sold solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. In August 2011, Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Department of Energy had provided a $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra.
Judge Mary F. Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ruled "that the evidence does not support a finding that the principal purpose of the plan was tax avoidance."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyndra#Shutdown_and_investigation
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There were allegations that members of the State Department engaged in sexual misconduct. The Inspector General conducted investigations.
The Inspector General found documents that show the State Department may have covered up allegations of illegal and inappropriate behavior within their ranks. The Inspector General did not find any direct link to the Secretary Hillary Clinton.
Sources:
http://time.com/3516932/clinton-aides-investigations/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/state-department-memo-reveals-possible-cover-ups-halted-investigations/
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On September 11 and 12, 2012, two US government facilities in Benghazi, Libya were attacked.
From February 2011 until the time of the attack, the Intelligence Community and key officials at the Department of State knew that there were sceurity concerns. There was a deliberately low level of security at the compound before the attack. It is not clear why. There were suggestions that it was to cover covert CIA arms sales operations. However, congressional reports dispute this claim.
The attack was initially described by United States government staff as being in response to a video. This conflicted with Libyan officials who said it was a preplanned attack which was joined by rioters who were enraged by the video. The United States government later stated that their initial information was wrong and they agreed it was a preplanned attack. Hillary Clinton took responsibility for the inadequate level of security, although the indications are that she was not even closely involved in the decisions regarding the level of security at the compound. She apparently took responsibility as a point of honor.
Ambassador Stevens was not killed in public and dragged through the streets. Rather, he died of smoke inhalation in the compound. His body was recovered without further damage.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Benghazi_attack
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Mitt Romney lost the election.
This accusation was published as a parody in a blog. This idea was then circulated without attribution or identification as a parody.
Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/absentee.asp
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In 2013, the United States Department of Justice, under Attorney General Eric Holder, subpoenaed phone records from the Associated Press and naming Fox News reporter, James Rosen, a "criminal co-conspirator" under the Espionage Act of 1917 in order to gain access to his personal emails and phone records.
The U.S. Department of Justice undertook a comprehensive evaluation of the practices of the DOJ and its policies regarding issuing subpoenas, search warrants and court orders to obtain records or information from journalists, meeting with stakeholders in the news media, First Amendment advocates, and members of the Congress. The DOJ published a 6-page report of the review entitled "Report on Revised Media Guidelines" on July 12, 2013. Holder said the "revised guidelines help ensure the proper balance is struck when pursuing investigations into unauthorized disclosures" and that these "reforms will make a meaningful difference".
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Department_of_Justice_investigations_of_reporters
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In 2013, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revealed that it had selected political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on their names or political themes. This led to wide condemnation of the agency and triggered several investigations, including a Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal probe ordered by United States Attorney General Eric Holder.
In January 2014, the FBI told Fox News that its investigation had found no evidence so far warranting the filing of federal criminal charges in connection with the scandal, as it had not found any evidence of "enemy hunting", and that the investigation continued. On October 23, 2015, the Justice Department declared that no criminal charges would be filed.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy
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A123 Systems was a developer and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems for transportation and other commercial and industrial applications. In 2010, A123 received a US$249 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for building battery production facilities. On October 16, 2012, A123 filed for bankruptcy protection. On January 28, 2013, Wanxiang America purchased the preponderance of A123's assets out of bankruptcy for $256.
I can find no authoritative evidence of misconduct; merely statements of opinion that she should have acted differently.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A123_Systems
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The Clinton Foundation is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1997. It was established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence."
Charitable grants are not a major focus of the Clinton Foundation, which instead keeps most of its money in house and hires staff to carry out its own humanitarian programs
FactCheck.org notes that there is "no evidence" that the donations influenced Clinton’s official actions or that she was involved in the State Department's decision to approve Russia from buying a company with extensive uranium mining operations in the U.S..
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Foundation
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/06/where-does-clinton-foundation-money-go/
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/04/no-veto-power-for-clinton-on-uranium-deal/
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The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic organization that was founded in Egypt 1928 as an Islamist religious, political, and social movement. The Muslim Brotherhood has been the largest, best-organized, and most disciplined political opposition force in Egypt. Plots, or alleged plots, of assassination and overthrow were uncovered in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. The group was legalized in 2011 and launched a civic political party called the Freedom and Justice Party to contest elections, including the 2012 presidential election when its candidate Mohamed Morsi became Egypt's first democratically elected president. One year later, however, following massive demonstrations, Morsi was overthrown by the military and arrested. As of 2014, the organization has been declared a terrorist group by Russia, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia and is once again suffering a severe crackdown.
I could find no credible documentation linking Hillary Clinton with the Muslim Brotherhood. I did find many articles that although they contained no actual evidence, were clearly designed to create suspicion. I found an example of a refutation in the Washington Post:
Duffy asked why the alleged Muslim Brotherhood connections to Huma Abedin are not being talked about. Perhaps it’s because they are bogus. Abedin has lived in the United States for 23 years, working in the White House, the Senate and the State Department. Vague suggestions of suspicious-sounding connections to her parents don’t pass the laugh test, even at the flimsiest standard of guilt by association.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Muslim_Brotherhood_in_Egypt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/08/25/does-huma-abedin-have-ties-to-the-muslim-brotherhood/
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