Statements

 Subscribe

Hillary Opposes Wiretapping - Unless It's Used Against Her Political Opponents

"Hillary Clinton's hypocrisy is outlandish. After publicly criticizing efforts by President Bush to monitor terrorist conversations as they plot new ways to kill Americans, it turns out Clinton is perfectly fine with wiretapping - as long as her political opponents are the targets. Hillary's contrived and calculated politics are something those of us involved in campaigns have known for a long time. Now it's become apparent to voters."

Ron Nehring, Chairman, California Republican Party

GOP Targeting Clinton On Phone-Call Snooping

From The Hill

By Alexander Bolton             

October 16, 2007

Republicans plan to seize on an allegation from the 1992 presidential campaign to tarnish Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) on the red-hot issue of government surveillance.

Government surveillance will be at the forefront of the political debate this fall as congressional Democrats and President Bush square off over legislation allowing electronic spying on U.S. soil without a warrant.

Republicans are focusing on an allegation in a recent book by two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, which suggests Clinton listened to a secretly recorded conversation between political opponents.

In their book about Clinton's rise to power, Her Way, Don Van Natta Jr., an investigative reporter at The New York Times, and Jeff Gerth, who spent 30 years as an investigative reporter at the paper, wrote: "Hillary's defense activities ranged from the inspirational to the microscopic to the down and dirty. She received memos about the status of various press inquiries; she vetted senior campaign aides; and she listened to a secretly recorded audiotape of a phone conversation of Clinton critics plotting their next attack. ...

"Bill's supporters monitored frequencies used by cell phones, and the tape was made during one of those monitoring sessions."

A GOP official said, "Hillary Clinton's campaign hypocrisy continues to know no bounds. It is rather unbelievable that Clinton would listen in to conversations being conducted by political opponents, but refuse to allow our intelligence agencies to listen in to conversations being conducted by terrorists as they plot and plan to kill us. Team Clinton can expect to see and hear this over and over again over the course of the next year."

Gerth told The Hill that he learned of the incident in 2006 when he interviewed a former campaign aide present at the tape playing. He has not revealed the aide's identity. Clinton's campaign has not disputed any facts reported in the final version of his book, which became public this spring, he said. ...

Several legal experts said it was illegal to intercept cell phone conversations in 1992.

"It's been clear that since 1986 it was illegal to intercept an individual cell phone call," said Barry Steinhardt, the director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union. ...

To View Entire Article, Please Visit: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gop-targeting- clinton-on-phone-call-snooping-2007-10-16.html