Trump's Lies about Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton's Sexual Misconduct and Alleged Sexual Misconduct

Donald Trump went there (as we all knew he would eventually). After being caught on tape boasting about his sexual assaults, Trump claimed that he was lying (plausible) and that Bill Clinton actually did it (including rape). Together with the 22nd amendment will certainly prevent the re-re-election of Bill Clinton, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with the 2016 Presidential election. Trump regularly tries to claim that is accusations against Bill Clinton are relevant, because Hillary Clinton was a very nasty enabler who attached, shamed, humiliated and threatened the women with whom Bill Clinton conducted himself badly.

I have been concerned that reporters have reported that accusation against Hillary Clinton without writing whether it is supported by any evidence. I have also wondered if I missed something back in the 90s when I wasn't such a US political news addict. I have now concluded that Trump's accusations are completely unsupported by any evidence at all. It isn't surprising that Trump would make convenient claims of fact based on zero evidence. It isn't even surprising that journalists report slanderous claims without noting that they are false.

But, before going on, I must stress that I consider this another gross journalistic failure. I think reporters should have a rule that they just don't report accusations without independently chekcing the evidence. I do not think minimal journalistic standards are met when they quote Trump's accusations without any discussion of whether they are supported by any evidence. I am absolutely sure that many people are convinced that it is generally agreed that Hillary Clinton attacked some woman with whom Bill Clinton had sex or whom Bill Clinton harrassed. This is an accusation which I have read many times.

Only in the past day and only by deliberately looking have I found some fact checks. Trump claimed “Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims.”. I know of no case in which he named the women whom he claimed were attacked by Clinton. I assume they are among the set of Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Katharine Willey and Juanita Broaddrick. I know of no claims by Trump about the time or content of the alleged attacks, threats etc. I think a challenge for fact checkers is to add enough to the totally vague abstract accusations to make them checkable.

I will try to guess what Trump might have had in mind. Of course I don't really think he had any specific claim in mind, I think he just found it convenient to accuse Hillary Clinton.

1) This seems to be the closest to a hint of some evidence -- yesterday Juanita Broaddrick said that Hillary Clinton threatened her. In the past she has described this alleged threat in some detail

Soon after, Broaddrick says, she ran into Hillary Clinton at a political rally Broaddrick had promised friends she would attend. Hillary shook her hand and thanked her for everything she had done for Bill. To Broaddrick, the gesture felt like a threat to stay silent.

Same link as above (and by the way Jonathan Cohn and Ryan Grim's whole post is well worth reading (unlike this one))

That's it (as far as I know). Hillary Clinton is accused of shaking Juanita Broaddrick's hand and thanking her. Really. As far as I know her claim is the strongest evidence in favor of Trump's accusation. This is absolutely exactly nothing. It sure doesn't fit the standard definitions of "bullied", "attacked", "shamed" or "intimidated."

Other efforts to understand what the hell Donald Trump might have in mind (and what he wants us to believe) were made by Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee working over time at the Washington post quote and check Trump

“Hillary Clinton attacked those same women, attacked them viciously.”

They don't seem to have any firm guess as to what specific claim he would make if pinned down (which he won't be). The phrase "those women" implies at least Broaddrick, Willey, and Jones. However, the only case they even consider is Lewinsky (who has never accused Bill Clinton of assaulting or harassing her).

One of the interviews that Clinton’s critics have pointed to is a Jan. 27, 1998 interview on the Today Show, saying it showed Clinton was discrediting allegations by then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

[skip]

“I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this, they have popped up in other settings,” Clinton told Matt Lauer. “This is the great story here, for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it, is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.”

[skip]

at the time of the interview, Lewinsky also denied there had been a relationship. Her lawyer had submitted an affidavit on Jan. 12 from her saying she “never had a sexual relationship with the president.”

so Hillary Clinton allegedly discredited Lewinsky by claiming (incorrectly) that Lewinsky had not committed perjury.

Note that the utterly absurd accusation that "Clinton was discrediting accusations by ... Monica Lewinsky" before Lewinsky made such allegations is still being discussed. It is completely 100% ridiculous, but it seems to be the best "Clinton's critics" can do (I definitely trust Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee to be tough on Clintons).

They link to a full fact check by Michelle Ye Hee Lee here She gives the accusation that Hillary Clinton “savaged their dignity and shamed them,in an advertizement by a pro-Trump PAC three Pinocchios. The only evidence actually related to Hillary Clinton that the add presents is the interview which aired while Lewinsky was still denying having had sex with Bill Clinton. The accusation that by saying Lewinsky told the truth when under oath, Clinton "savaged" her "dignity" is utterly totally absurd.

The rest of the claims are about “The Clinton effort." Note the absense of a first name before the "Clinton." Here the claim is that Hillary Clinton is responsible not only for her husband's actions but also for the actions of his aids and advisors.

The accusations against Hillary Clinton are clearly unsupported by any evidence and utterly contemptible. The more important point is that they are frequently reported without any mention of their groundlessness, which is despicable journalism.