By Ed Hoffman
The day after Judicial Watch released emails revealing a boatload of Clinton Foundation and State Department improprieties on Hillary Clinton’s watch, Donald Trump stepped in it by calling President Obama the founder of ISIS. Should he have done it? Probably not; it took the attention off of her and forced the media to swing its spotlight back to him instead (something they were quite happy to do, I’m sure). Regardless, did he actually mean it? I don’t know, did Clinton mean it last year when she said that “smart power” was “showing respect for one’s enemies” (no doubt this includes ISIS) and trying to “empathize with their perspective and point of view”? Probably, because she said it in a pre-written speech at Georgetown University.
Back to the revelations in the newly released emails. They clearly implicate the State Department for giving favors to big-money Clinton Foundation donors when Hillary was Secretary of State. And no, this is not “old news.” Remember, Hillary has been claiming for years that the Clinton Foundation is their meager $2 billion “family charity” with no influence over the United States government. These emails prove that wrong.
The first smoking gun is an email from Bill Clinton’s top aide (Doug Band) asking Hillary Clinton’s top aides (Huma Abedin and Sheryl Mills) if they can find a State Department job for a suspiciously unnamed person. Why is this suspicious? The person’s name was redacted from the emails; what isn’tsuspicious about that? We don’t know who he or she is, if he or she ever got a job at the U.S. State Department, and why everyone connected to the Clintons was so intent on helping him or her get one. Kudos to AP reporter Matt Lee for not letting State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau off the hook for this during the subsequent “nothing to see here” press conference last week. My favorite moment was when he asked her, “Am I not speaking English?”
The other revelation in the emails involved a high-dollar Clinton Foundation donor from Nigeria (who happens to have ties to the Nigerian military dictator) requesting State Department access to our United States ambassador to Lebanon. He donated $5.1 million to the Clinton Foundation, and shortly thereafter Bill’s aide Doug Band was at it again, emailing Huma Abedin to ask for a State Department favor – and who knows if that favor would be in America’s best interests. After all, how do we know what he was hoping to get from our ambassador to Lebanon?
As I said on my radio show last week: If you can’t vote for Trump, at least vote against Hillary. He may be controversial, but she is downright corrupt.
Ed Hoffman is host of The Main Event on AM590, which airs Saturday 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM and Sunday 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook by searching The Main Event 590.