lily
03-20-2008, 03:06 AM
Just the first of many reports, I suspect. (http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/19/786127.aspx)
Clinton calendars full of unexplained private meetings
Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:16 PM PT
Filed Under: Politics
By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer
Former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's calendar entries are full of
unexplained private meetings on key dates when she and President Clinton
were fending off a variety of scandals, the newly released White House
records show.
Take Jan. 21, 1998. That's the day when most Americans first learned,
courtesy of the Washington Post, that President Clinton had had a
relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Mrs. Clinton's calendar entry shows that
she left the White House at 7:25 pm that evening and returned 25 minutes
later. The National Archives, which released the 17,484 calendar pages
today, has excised the reason for the brief trip and the names of any of the
people whom Mrs. Clinton may have met. The Archives, working in consultation
with President Clinton's representatives, cite privacy concerns in blacking
out all details of the trip.
Dec. 22, 2000 also remains a bit of a mystery. That's the day when Mrs.
Clinton and the President met in the White House with a New York rabbi who
successfully lobbied President Clinton to commute the sentences of four
Hassidic men who had been convicted of massive fraud and conspiracy. The
commutations were extremely controversial at the time, and photos of the
meeting exist. And yet, there's no mention of it in Mrs. Clinton's daily
log. The calendar simply lists four separate "private meetings" in the Map
Room that day, with no names attached.
On Jan. 4, 1996, the calendars also record four "private" meetings that the
First Lady held with her chief of staff, Maggie Williams, and undisclosed
others. That's the same day that one of the First Lady's aides discovered a
stack of Mrs. Clinton's law-firm billing records in the private quarters of
the White House. Whitewater investigators had been searching for the
subpoenaed documents for months.
A team of NBC News producers, correspondents and researchers pored over the
White House logs today. The calendar entries show, as Sen. Clinton has
argued on the campaign trail, that as first lady she had a continuing
interest in substantive foreign policy matters, including Bosnia and the
effort to find peace in Northern Ireland. "These documents are outlines of
the First Lady's activities and illustrate the array of substantive issues
she worked on," Clinton campaign spokesman Jay Carson said. "Her daily
schedules also list some of the meetings and travel she conducted to more
than 80 countries in pursuit of the Administration's domestic and foreign
policy goals."
Foreign Policy Experience?
But the calendars also seem to show that, on occasion, Mrs. Clinton was not
substantively involved with foreign affairs when a real 3 a.m. crisis hit
the White House.
Take, for example, when Al Qaeda terrorists bombed the U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing hundreds of people. Mrs. Clinton's
schedule does not show any foreign policy meetings in the aftermath of the
crisis, only a trip to Andrews Air Force Base to console victims and their
families as they returned from Africa to the United States. And when, in
retaliation for those embassy attacks, President Clinton bombed Al Qaeda
terrorist camps in Afghanistan, where was Mrs. Clinton? The records show
that she was vacationing at a "private residence" in Martha's Vineyard, Ma.,
and had no official events.
Foreign trips offer a mixed review of Mrs. Clinton's national-security
experience. On a trip to Japan and Korea in 1993, for example, her schedule
was filled with teas, tours of gardens and other traditional first lady
fare. And on a trip to Russia in 1994, Mrs. Clinton met with other first
ladies and attended coffees and tours, separate from her husband or the
Russian president. Clinton campaign spokesman Carson described the calendars
as only a "guide," and said that they "of course cannot reflect all of
Senator Clinton's activities as First Lady."
Indeed, on overseas trips in 1996, Mrs. Clinton held "private" or "closed"
meetings with foreign heads of state in Greece, Turkey, and Bosnia--without
the president's attendance. And on dozens of times throughout her White
House years, she attended White House meetings with Cabinet secretaries, was
briefed by senior National Security Council officials and met with foreign
dignitaries from around the world.
Clinton calendars full of unexplained private meetings
Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:16 PM PT
Filed Under: Politics
By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer
Former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's calendar entries are full of
unexplained private meetings on key dates when she and President Clinton
were fending off a variety of scandals, the newly released White House
records show.
Take Jan. 21, 1998. That's the day when most Americans first learned,
courtesy of the Washington Post, that President Clinton had had a
relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Mrs. Clinton's calendar entry shows that
she left the White House at 7:25 pm that evening and returned 25 minutes
later. The National Archives, which released the 17,484 calendar pages
today, has excised the reason for the brief trip and the names of any of the
people whom Mrs. Clinton may have met. The Archives, working in consultation
with President Clinton's representatives, cite privacy concerns in blacking
out all details of the trip.
Dec. 22, 2000 also remains a bit of a mystery. That's the day when Mrs.
Clinton and the President met in the White House with a New York rabbi who
successfully lobbied President Clinton to commute the sentences of four
Hassidic men who had been convicted of massive fraud and conspiracy. The
commutations were extremely controversial at the time, and photos of the
meeting exist. And yet, there's no mention of it in Mrs. Clinton's daily
log. The calendar simply lists four separate "private meetings" in the Map
Room that day, with no names attached.
On Jan. 4, 1996, the calendars also record four "private" meetings that the
First Lady held with her chief of staff, Maggie Williams, and undisclosed
others. That's the same day that one of the First Lady's aides discovered a
stack of Mrs. Clinton's law-firm billing records in the private quarters of
the White House. Whitewater investigators had been searching for the
subpoenaed documents for months.
A team of NBC News producers, correspondents and researchers pored over the
White House logs today. The calendar entries show, as Sen. Clinton has
argued on the campaign trail, that as first lady she had a continuing
interest in substantive foreign policy matters, including Bosnia and the
effort to find peace in Northern Ireland. "These documents are outlines of
the First Lady's activities and illustrate the array of substantive issues
she worked on," Clinton campaign spokesman Jay Carson said. "Her daily
schedules also list some of the meetings and travel she conducted to more
than 80 countries in pursuit of the Administration's domestic and foreign
policy goals."
Foreign Policy Experience?
But the calendars also seem to show that, on occasion, Mrs. Clinton was not
substantively involved with foreign affairs when a real 3 a.m. crisis hit
the White House.
Take, for example, when Al Qaeda terrorists bombed the U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing hundreds of people. Mrs. Clinton's
schedule does not show any foreign policy meetings in the aftermath of the
crisis, only a trip to Andrews Air Force Base to console victims and their
families as they returned from Africa to the United States. And when, in
retaliation for those embassy attacks, President Clinton bombed Al Qaeda
terrorist camps in Afghanistan, where was Mrs. Clinton? The records show
that she was vacationing at a "private residence" in Martha's Vineyard, Ma.,
and had no official events.
Foreign trips offer a mixed review of Mrs. Clinton's national-security
experience. On a trip to Japan and Korea in 1993, for example, her schedule
was filled with teas, tours of gardens and other traditional first lady
fare. And on a trip to Russia in 1994, Mrs. Clinton met with other first
ladies and attended coffees and tours, separate from her husband or the
Russian president. Clinton campaign spokesman Carson described the calendars
as only a "guide," and said that they "of course cannot reflect all of
Senator Clinton's activities as First Lady."
Indeed, on overseas trips in 1996, Mrs. Clinton held "private" or "closed"
meetings with foreign heads of state in Greece, Turkey, and Bosnia--without
the president's attendance. And on dozens of times throughout her White
House years, she attended White House meetings with Cabinet secretaries, was
briefed by senior National Security Council officials and met with foreign
dignitaries from around the world.