Subject: Correct The Record Tuesday July 8, 2014 Afternoon Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2014 13:55:51 -0400
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

**

*Correct The Record Tuesday July 8, 2014 Afternoon Roundup:*

*Tweets:*

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: Enough with the politicization of an
American tragedy. GOP wants to spend $3M more on new Benghazi committee.
http://correctrecord.org/new-benghazi-house-select-committee-will-cost-taxpayers-3-
…
<http://t.co/db5szIv8qz> [7/8/14, 12:05 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/486541481465769985>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: UNLV has sold “more than $350,000 in
table sponsorships thus far,” crediting @HillaryClinton for early sales
surge:
http://correctrecord.org/attack-america-rising-shamefully-attacks-clintons-charitable-work/
…
<http://t.co/uASCyKbeio> [7/7/14, 4:20 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/486243319933333506>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton & @Madeleine launched
Vital Voices Democracy Initiative 2 support women’s global advancement
#HRC365 http://bit.ly/ObKcrM [7/7/14, 5:45 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/486264762490052608>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@pbump claims Gates' "Duty" handily
outsold #HardChoices. The Facts: First 3 weeks of sales for both books
pic.twitter.com/gEaioxqIha <http://t.co/gEaioxqIha> [7/7/14, 2:56 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/486222235532029953>]

*Headlines:*

*CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK: THE BRODY FILE (PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT): JULY
3, 2014 <http://www.cbn.com/tv/3657512512001>*

David Brody: "I think her biggest challenge is to let the inner-Hillary
come out. Now conservatives might think the inner-Hillary is some
mean-crazed machine, but actually she’s really endearing in private. We’ve
met her a few times. She’s got a great sense of humor, loads of
personality, so she’s going to need to figure out a way for that to shine
through more and not get so caught up in the trappings of her political
past."

*Washington Post blog: Post Politics: “Hillary Clinton tops Christie, Paul,
Bush in new poll”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/08/hillary-clinton-tops-christie-paul-bush-in-new-poll/>*

“Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the driver's seat
for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president, a new poll released
Tuesday shows, and she tops a slate of potential Republican White House
hopefuls.”

*Politico: “Cleveland to host 2016 GOP convention”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/2016-rnc-location-cleveland-108659.html>*

“Cleveland will host the 2016 Republican National Convention after beating
out Dallas for the final nod, putting the party’s nomination festivities in
a key presidential battleground, chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday.”

*CBS News: “Hillary Clinton stands by her defense of 1975 rape suspect”
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-stands-by-her-defense-of-1975-rape-suspect/>*

“Hillary Clinton asked to be removed from a 1975 rape case in which her
client was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, the onetime
Arkansas lawyer said recently, addressing for the first time fresh
retrospective reproach for her defense of a man she's suggested was guilty.”

*Arkansas Times blog: Arkansas Blog: “Hillary: Did her duty in 1975 rape
case defense”
<http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2014/07/08/hillary-did-her-duty-in-1975-rape-case-defense>*

“The vast right-wing conspiracy has succeeded in reopening mainstream media
discussion of Hillary Clinton's role as a court-appointed lawyer in defense
of a man accused of raping a 12-year-old in Fayetteville 39 years ago.”

*Der Spiegel (German Magazine): “Interview with Hillary Clinton:
‘Surveillance on Merkel's Phone Was Absolutely Wrong’”
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/hillary-clinton-interview-on-german-us-ties-and-presidential-plans-a-979812.html>*

“In an interview, Hillary Clinton discusses the growing gap between the
rich and poor that threatens democracy, Americans' discontent with
politics, her regrets over NSA spying on Chancellor Merkel's mobile phone
and her potential presidential candidacy.

*Politico: “Hillary Clinton: Thomas Piketty right on labor”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hillary-clinton-thomas-piketty-income-inequality-108661.html>*

“Hillary Clinton says she hasn’t yet read Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book
on income inequality, but that she’s familiar with the gist and agrees that
‘we have devalued labor.’”

*Politico: “Hillary Clinton on dynasties: We had 2 Roosevelts”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hillary-clinton-political-dynasty-der-spiegel-interview-108652.html?hp=l3>*

“Hillary Clinton on Tuesday defended her family and the Bushes, saying that
U.S. politics has a history of political families but that the country is
not a ‘monarchy.’”

*Huffington Post: “Ready For Hillary Starts Spreading Its Money Around To
Key States”
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/ready-for-hillary-money_n_5567110.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed>*

“Ready for Hillary, the organization setting the stage for Hillary Clinton
to run for president in 2016, has strategically distributed more than
$175,000 to 33 state Democratic parties and national Democratic
organizations.”

*Washington Post blog: Post Politics: “Hillary Clinton ‘sorry’ that
Merkel’s phone was tapped”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/08/hillary-clinton-sorry-that-merkels-phone-was-tapped/>*

“Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview
published Tuesday that it was wrong for U.S. intelligence officials to spy
on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone and said she is ‘sorry’ that
it happened.”

*National Journal: “If Hillary Clinton Doesn't Run, Who Would Lead the
Democratic Field for President?”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/if-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-run-who-would-lead-the-democratic-field-for-president-20140708>*

[Subtitle:] “Other potential Democratic candidates like Elizabeth Warren
and Andrew Cuomo are largely unknown among potential voters, according to a
new poll.”

*Washington Free Beacon: “MSNBC Slams Hillary Clinton Over Rape Tapes”
<http://freebeacon.com/politics/msnbc-slams-hillary-clinton-over-rape-tapes/>*

“An MSNBC panel slammed Hillary Clinton over the tapes uncovered by the
Washington Free Beacon which record her laughing about freeing a child
rapist, calling her behavior ‘jarring’ and ‘disturbing.’”

*Articles:*

*CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK: THE BRODY FILE (PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT): JULY
3, 2014 <http://www.cbn.com/tv/3657512512001>*

[Transcript]

July 3, 2014

(Starting at 15:45)

DAVID BRODY: You know there’s been a lot of talk lately about 2016. You
heard from Marco Rubio earlier in the show. He’s a man expected to make a
run at the Republican nominee for president. Well, how about a Brody File
commentary on the woman who is expected to run to be the Democrats’
nominee? Hillary Clinton. That’s right. She’s been taking some flack from
the media ever since her book tour rollout began. And now, time for a Brody
File commentary.

You know, remember the “we were dead broke when we left the White House”
line? She uttered that to Diane Sawyer during the sit-down interview. Hey,
yeah, sure it wasn’t said very artfully, and I’m sure she wishes she could
have said it differently, but you know technically it was true. It just
seems the media wants to turn everything into political Armageddon. I mean
how about when Hillary Clinton was talking about gay marriage? There was a
liberal NPR host, and she tried to trip her up by chastising her for being
for the Defense of Marriage Act back in the 1990s. Yet, of course, now she
is for same-sex marriage. The NPR host was trying to make Hillary Clinton
look like a follower rather than a leader on the issue. But hey look, at
the time, Pres. Clinton with support from Hillary Clinton did the smart
thing by passing the Defense of Marriage Act. I mean, Congress wanted it,
it was in a day when traditional marriage was still sacred. It really did
make total sense. Politicians should really listen to the people – not the
other way around. So sure, coming out for gay marriage back then would have
been risky politically, but it would have also been tone-deaf and stupid,
because the people weren’t clamoring for it. People need to cut her and him
some slack. She is for gay marriage now. I mean isn’t that enough for gay
rights activists? You know, it seems everyone is trying to trip Hillary up.
But remember, she gives just as good as she gets. I think her biggest
challenge is to let the inner-Hillary come out. Now conservatives might
think the inner-Hillary is some mean-crazed machine, but actually she’s
really endearing in private. We’ve met her a few times. She’s got a great
sense of humor, loads of personality, so she’s going to need to figure out
a way for that to shine through more and not get so caught up in the
trappings of her political past.

*Washington Post blog: Post Politics: “Hillary Clinton tops Christie, Paul,
Bush in new poll”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/08/hillary-clinton-tops-christie-paul-bush-in-new-poll/>*

By Sean Sullivan

July 8, 2014, 9:16 a.m. EDT

Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the driver's seat
for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president, a new poll released
Tuesday shows, and she tops a slate of potential Republican White House
hopefuls.

Clinton, who has not yet said whether she will run for president, is
supported by 58 percent of Democrats in a hypothetical primary against Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) (11 percent); Vice President Biden (9 percent);
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (4 percent); Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (1
percent); and former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (1 percent).
Quinnipiac University conducted the national survey.

Unlike the prospective Democratic race, the prospective Republican field
has no clear frontrunner. Four Republicans register double-digit support:
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) (11 percent); former Florida governor Jeb Bush (10
percent); New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (10 percent); and former Arkansas
governor Mike Huckabee (10 percent). Twenty percent of Republicans say they
are undecided.

Coming in behind the four leading contenders: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
(8 percent); Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) (8 percent); Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) (8
percent); Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) (6 percent); Texas Gov. Rick Perry (3
percent); former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) (2 percent); Ohio Gov. John
Kasich (2 percent); and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (1 percent).

Clinton was tested in hypothetical general election match-ups against
against Christie, Paul, Huckabee, Bush and Ryan. She bests all five by
between seven and nine points.

The poll was conducted from June 24-30.

*Politico: “Cleveland to host 2016 GOP convention”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/2016-rnc-location-cleveland-108659.html>*

By Katie Glueck and Maggie Haberman

July 8, 2014, 11:57 a.m. EDT

Cleveland will host the 2016 Republican National Convention after beating
out Dallas for the final nod, putting the party’s nomination festivities in
a key presidential battleground, chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday.

Priebus made the announcement on Fox News and an official statement
followed.

In choosing Cleveland, party organizers opted for a Democratic enclave in
the pivotal battleground state of Ohio over the wealthier and more
conservative Dallas area for their convention, which officials have
indicated could take place in late June or mid-July of 2016.

Republican officials wanted an earlier convention in 2016, to allow the
nominee to pivot more quickly to the general election. Cleveland offered up
a late June date, while Dallas was considering mid-July, reports said,
though an RNC spokeswoman said Tuesday that the exact timing was still part
of the negotiation process.

“The RNC set a new standard for conventions during this process,” Priebus
said in a statement. “Not only will the convention be held earlier in 2016,
but there are also substantial guarantees in place for funding that put us
well ahead of previous conventions and will give our nominee the best
opportunity to succeed.”

GOP officials have said that logistics—including fundraising capabilities
and hotel space—played a central role throughout the elimination process of
a contest that previously also included Kansas City and Denver, among other
cities.

Some Republican donors privately said Texas, where the Republican party
recently made strong stands in its platform against gay rights, would send
the wrong message at a time when the GOP needs to expand its base.

A critical component of the RNC’s “autopsy” after the 2012 election was the
need to appeal to an increasingly diverse electorate. Holding the
convention in a heavily African-American city provides a backdrop that
helps the party avoid the appearance of homogeneity.

But there are downsides to holding the event in Ohio instead of Texas.
There are fewer mega-donors in the Midwestern state, meaning the RNC needs
money commitments ahead of time.

The event, which could draw up to 50,000 people, is expected to be
prohibitively expensive. Cleveland, home to a new convention center,
reportedly has $30 million on hand to $50 million in commitments that
Dallas had secured. Ohioans involved in the effort, however, have said
fundraising won’t be a problem.

The announcement is a coup for Cleveland as it seeks to remake itself from
a crime-ridden, economically struggling Rust Belt city long dubbed
the“Mistake on the Lake” to a thriving metropolis with a revitalized
downtown.

The 2016 conventions won’t receive federal matching of funds as they had in
the past. At the same time, such events are often economic boons for the
host cities.

“It’s a unique opportunity to showcase the new Cleveland as one of
America’s great cities, and to bring dollars and jobs to Ohio,” said Sen.
Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a close ally of 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

The decision to go with Ohio was anticipated by many Republican operatives
and donors.

Ohio is a crucial battleground that Republicans haven’t won in the last two
elections. Obama’s turnout operation was critical to his win there in 2012,
and Republicans are aware they need it back in their column if they’re
going to succeed in the future.

Both Cleveland and Dallas turned to athletes, celebrities, fine dining—and
in the case of Dallas, elephants that greeted officials —to make their
cases to site selection decision-makers.

Cleveland had also been in the running to host the Democratic convention,
though signing a contract to host the RNC would disqualify it from the
DNC’s convention cities list.

The 2012 convention was held in Tampa, Florida, a choice that was roundly
denounced after the fact, given that the city was in the path of a
hurricane just as the convention was set to kick off. Organizers were
forced to call off the first night of events, which led to a truncated and
muted affair.

*CBS News: “Hillary Clinton stands by her defense of 1975 rape suspect”
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-stands-by-her-defense-of-1975-rape-suspect/>*

By Lindsey Boerma

July 8, 2014, 11:03 a.m. EDT

Hillary Clinton asked to be removed from a 1975 rape case in which her
client was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, the onetime
Arkansas lawyer said recently, addressing for the first time fresh
retrospective reproach for her defense of a man she's suggested was guilty.

"When I was a 27-year-old attorney doing legal aid work at the [University
of Arkansas] where I taught in Fayetteville, Arkansas, I was appointed by
the local judge to represent a criminal defendant accused of rape," she
said when broached with the topic in an interview with British online
network Mumsnet. "I asked to be relieved of that responsibility, but I was
not. And I had a professional duty to represent my client to the best of my
ability, which I did."

The Washington Free Beacon recently obtained audio from a 1980s interview
with Clinton in which she concedes some admittedly disquieting information
about how she was able to seize on loopholes to minimize the sentence of
the suspect, 41-year-old Thomas Alfred Taylor. Though he faced 30 years to
life in prison, Clinton negotiated a plea deal that sentenced him to just
one year in county jail and four years of probation.

In a sworn affidavit aiming to coerce a psychiatric evaluation of the
sixth-grade victim, Clinton during the case nearly 40 years ago called into
question the girl's emotional stability, arguing she had exhibited "a
tendency to seek out older men and engage in... fantasizing." She added,
citing a child psychology expert that "children in early adolescence tend
to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences and that adolescents with
disorganized families, such as the complainant, are even more prone to such
behavior."

But in the recording, Clinton indicated she believed her client was indeed
guilty. Heard laughing, she said the polygraph test he managed to pass
"forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs."

Grasping to cast Clinton - the early frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic
presidential nomination - as someone far removed from the champion of
women's rights around which she's molded her reputation as first lady,
senator and secretary of state, some Republicans have rallied attention
back to her handling of the case.

Todd Akin, whose 2012 Senate campaign was largely annihilated by his theory
that women who are victims of "legitimate rape" shouldn't be exempted from
anti-abortion laws because they're unlikely to become pregnant, last month
lambasted as "incredibly hypocritical" Clinton's defense of a child rapist
"she knew to be guilty." He added that by laughing while discussing the
case, Clinton "de-legitimized the legitimate claims of the 12-year-old
victim," and that she "slandered the victim to justify her tactics."

Clinton stood by her defense during her interview with Mumsnet: "When
you're a lawyer you often don't have the choice as to who you will
represent," she said. "And by the very nature of criminal law there will be
those you represent you don't approve of. But, at least in our system, you
have an obligation. And once I was appointed I fulfilled that obligation."

*Arkansas Times blog: Arkansas Blog: “Hillary: Did her duty in 1975 rape
case defense”
<http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2014/07/08/hillary-did-her-duty-in-1975-rape-case-defense>*

By Max Brantley

July 8, 2014, 8:50 a.m.

The vast right-wing conspiracy has succeeded in reopening mainstream media
discussion of Hillary Clinton's role as a court-appointed lawyer in defense
of a man accused of raping a 12-year-old in Fayetteville 39 years ago. She
plea-bargained a short sentence for the man.

She's given her first interview on the topic this year — the issue was
plumbed in some depth in her 2008 presidential campaign and the elements of
her response already were clear. But, she told Mumsnet, a British website,
as reported in the New York Times:

“I asked to be relieved of that responsibility, but I was not, and I had a
professional duty to represent my client to the best of my ability, which I
did.”

The victim in the case, who didn't criticize Clinton when interviewed in
2008, has said in an interview this year that Clinton took her through
hell. Regrettably, challenging a victim's credibility is part of the job of
being a defense lawyer. It is hard on the victim, but it is the lawyer's
obligation. A defendant, even an obviously heinous one, is constitutionally
entitled to a legal defense. But, as several articles have noted recently
(and it was an issue in a recent Arkansas Supreme Court case), acting as a
defense lawyer has become a ripe source of political opponent attacks,
ethical obligation or no.

Earlier reporting by Michael Cook supported Clinton's statement that she
didn't want to represent the defendant but had no choice. He demanded a
female attorney. She was one of a very few female lawyers in Washington
County at the time. The judge refused to release her from the appointment,
the prosecutor said.

*Der Spiegel (German Magazine): “Interview with Hillary Clinton:
‘Surveillance on Merkel's Phone Was Absolutely Wrong’”
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/hillary-clinton-interview-on-german-us-ties-and-presidential-plans-a-979812.html>*

By Marc Hujer and Holger Stark

July 8, 2014, 11:34 a.m.

In an interview, Hillary Clinton discusses the growing gap between the rich
and poor that threatens democracy, Americans' discontent with politics, her
regrets over NSA spying on Chancellor Merkel's mobile phone and her
potential presidential candidacy.

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, you've been in politics for over three decades.
During that time, discontent with politics has increased considerably. Do
you think expectations have become unrealistic?

Clinton: I think about this question a lot because we are putting an
enormous amount of weight on one individual in our political system. In our
country, we don't have a head of state and a head of government. We have
one person: the president. That person has to fulfill the role of being the
symbol of the country plus running the government. It is hard for anybody
to carry that off. I think we're having a time in our history right now
where people are disappointed in the political system, turned off by the
political system, giving up on it or are wanting to hijack it with some
ideological perspective. Therefore we need to enlist not just one person
but kind of a consensus of leadership and citizenship to address that.

SPIEGEL: American society is polarized as never before. The French
economist Thomas Piketty wrote a bestseller "Capital in the Twenty First
Century" which is making a lot of noise right now. Have you had the chance
to read it?

Clinton: I haven't read it yet. I've read very long essays about it and
know what his principal point is. I think he makes a very strong case that
we have unbalanced our economy too much towards favoring capital and away
from labor. And I agree with his principal concern, which is that we have
devalued labor. He talks about Europe, but it is the same thing in the
United States.

SPIEGEL: Piketty argues that the growing gap between the rich and the poor
is threatening democracy.

Clinton: I do agree with that. We've had this huge experiment known as
America that was a diversity of populations, and we have held it together
because we had a democracy that slowly over time included everybody. Even
during the Great Depression people in the streets believed that they could
make it and they would be better off. Now the relative wealth is much
higher, but the disparity makes people believe that they're stuck. They no
longer believe that things are going to get any better, no matter how hard
they work. People have lost trust in each other and the political system
and I think that's very threatening to democracy.

SPIEGEL: The average annual income of an American household is $22,296
(€16,397). You earn up to $200,000 an hour for a speech. Can you understand
if people are bothered by that?

Clinton: Well, certainly, I can understand that, but that's never been the
crux of the concern in our country, because we've always had people who did
better than other people. That's just accepted. The problem is that people
on the bottom and people in the middle class no longer feel like they have
the opportunity to do better. The question is, how do we get back to having
an economy that works for everybody and that once again gives people the
optimism that they too will be successful.

SPIEGEL: According to your description of the United States, you should
actually be applauded for your prosperity.

Clinton: Well, I think that if you go back and look at the last eight to 10
months, you'll see that people are seizing everything about me, and I
accept that. I mean, that's part of being out in the public, out as a
potential candidate, although I haven't made a decision.

SPIEGEL: You recently described your financial situation during the
presidency of your husband Bill Clinton as dead broke.

Clinton: Well, when we came out of the White House, we were deeply in debt
because of all the legal bills that we owed because of the relentless
persecution of my husband and myself, and he had to work unbelievably hard
to pay off every single penny of every debt we owed. And we did.

SPIEGEL: Today, you are multimillionaires. Your husband has earned $104
million with his speeches since 2001.

Clinton: We are very grateful for where we are today. But if you were to go
back and look at the amount of money that we owed, we couldn't even get a
mortgage on a house by ourselves. In our system he had to make double what
he needed in order just to pay off the debt, and then to finance a house
and continue to pay for our daughter's education.

Hillary Clinton on the possibility she will run for president again: "I
haven't made up my mind."

SPIEGEL: Do you think it's a good system when you have to take such great
personal and financial risks just in order to have a chance as a
presidential candidate?

Clinton: Well, I don't think it is for me today. People running for
president and even holding office are subjected to a full range of all
kinds of attacks. If you want to be in politics in our country today, you
go in with your eyes wide open about the potential price that you and your
family might pay, and that's why you have to be very, very sure you not
only want to do the job, but that you know what you want to do with the
job, and you can deliver on that. Look at the recent Presidents: my
husband, George W. Bush, Barack Obama. It's an incredibly stressful job. It
ages a person. It takes a very thick skin to be able to do this job.

SPIEGEL: This all sounds like a vehement plea for your retirement.

Clinton: (Laughs) Well, I haven't made up my mind.

SPIEGEL: If you should decide to run for the presidency in 2016, your
opponent could be Jeb Bush and he could quite possibly be the third Bush in
the White House. Even his mother Barbara Bush has declared that she does
not think it is a good idea. Do you agree?

Clinton: I think the point she was making is understandable, but I also
think in our democracy, anybody can run for any reason. And his last name
may factor into it. The color of his eyes might factor into it. His
policies, I hope, factor into it.

SPIEGEL: A majority of people is glad that the Bush era is finally over.
What kind of message would that send?

Clinton: Well, there will be plenty of time to comment on that if indeed an
election were to involve somebody with that last name, but I am not going
to say anything about it now.

SPIEGEL: For the past 25 years, there were two families that were very
prominent in politics, your family and the Bush family. First George Bush
was president for four years, then your husband led the country for eight
years, and then George W. Bush was president for eight years. If either you
or Jeb Bush were to win the election in 2016, once again a member of these
two families would become president. Will the American democracy turn into
a monarchy?

Clinton: We had two Roosevelts. We had two Adams. It may be that certain
families just have a sense of commitment or even a predisposition to want
to be in politics. I ran for president, as you remember. I lost to somebody
named Barack Obama, so I don't think there is any guarantee in American
politics. My last name did not help me in the end. Our system is open to
everyone. It is not a monarchy in which I wake up in the morning and
abdicate in favor of my son.

SPIEGEL: Would you like to see your daughter in politics?

Clinton: It is really up to her, and I'll support her in whatever she
chooses.

Hillary Clinton on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: "He is a poor
messenger."

SPIEGEL: We want to throw a couple of names out there and you tell us the
first thought that comes to mind. Neymar, the Brazilian?

Clinton: Oh. Well, is he the one who got injured? How tragic that he'd be
out when Brazil will be playing Germany. I watched some of the replay to
try to see exactly what happened. It is a serious injury. I hope he comes
back full speed. He's a great player.

SPIEGEL: Jürgen Klinsmann, the American national coach.

Clinton: I think he made some very shrewd decisions in his choice of who is
on the team. But I think he proved to be a very effective coach, and his
coaching brought out the best in the players that he chose, and it helped
to finally, I think, put what we call soccer and you call football on the
map in the United States. So I give him a lot of credit for that.

SPIEGEL: Edward Snowden.

Clinton: You know, I think he is a poor messenger for the message that he's
trying to take credit for. He came into the National Security Agency
apparently with the purpose of trying to gather a lot of information, and
most of what he gathered had nothing to do with surveillance in the United
States, but obviously around the world. And I think he could have provoked
the debate in our country without stealing and distributing material that
was government property and was of some consequence. And then for him to go
first to China and then to Russia raises a lot of questions, but he is
going to have to make his own choices. If he returns to the United States,
he will certainly stand trial, but he will have an opportunity to speak out
and to make his case in both a legal way and a public fashion.

SPIEGEL: We actually wanted to talk about your book and not about the NSA,
but since it became known on Fridaythat a member of the German intelligence
agency was arrested who had admitted that he acted as a spy for a US
intelligence service, the issue of the NSA has gained a new dimension.
Given the tense political climate, do you believe the CIA could seriously
come up with idea of infiltrating German intelligence?

Clinton: Well, I know that your government is conducting a criminal
investigation, and we will learn more as the facts are developed. And I
know nothing other than what I read. But clearly, we have to do a much
better job in working together between Germany and the United States to
sort out what the appropriate lines of cooperation are on intelligence and
security. I think the cooperation is necessary for our security, but we
don't want to undermine it by raising doubts again and again. Clearly, the
surveillance on Chancellor Merkel's phone was absolutely wrong. The
president said that. I think that he made it very clear it was
unacceptable. Where are the lines on both sides? That's what we have to
work out.

SPIEGEL: Would you agree that acquiring a source within the German
intelligence agency should be taboo for US intelligence services?

Clinton: I don't want to give a general answer. There's so much that goes
on in intelligence circles. If we were to say no, under no circumstances,
that you shouldn't do that to us, we shouldn't do that to you, what if a
circumstance arises where it is conceivable that it would be in your
interest and ours? The United States could never enter into a No-Spy
agreement with any country -- not you, not Britain, not Canada. But that
doesn't mean that within the intelligence and security institutions within
our two countries, we shouldn't have a much clearer idea of what is
appropriate and what should not be done.

SPIEGEL: Do you think Angela Merkel deserves an apology?

Clinton: Well, it is my understanding that the president and she have
talked numerous times.

SPIEGEL: Yes, but no public apology.

Clinton: I'm not in the government anymore, but I'm sorry.

*Politico: “Hillary Clinton: Thomas Piketty right on labor”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hillary-clinton-thomas-piketty-income-inequality-108661.html>*

By Maggie Haberman

July 8, 2014, 12:06 p.m. EDT

Hillary Clinton says she hasn’t yet read Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book
on income inequality, but that she’s familiar with the gist and agrees that
“we have devalued labor.”

The potential 2016 presidential contender, in an interview with Germany’s
Der Spiegel, also said she “can understand” people being bothered by her
high speaking fees, “but that’s never been the crux of the concern in our
country, because we’ve always had people who did better than other people.
That’s just accepted.”

Clinton’s comments this week came as she travels in Europe to promote “Hard
Choices,” her memoir about her time as secretary of state.

The Piketty book has received attention as debate grows in the U.S. over
how to deal with income inequality, an issue that has been driving economic
policy discussions in the Democratic Party.

Asked by the interviewer if she’s read Piketty’s “Capital in the
Twenty-First Century,” Clinton replied: “I haven’t read it yet. I’ve read
very long essays about it and know what his principal point is. I think he
makes a very strong case that we have unbalanced our economy too much
towards favoring capital and away from labor.”

She added: “And I agree with his principal concern, which is that we have
devalued labor. He talks about Europe, but it is the same thing in the
United States.”

The current “disparity makes people believe that they’re stuck,” Clinton
said. “They no longer believe that things are going to get any better, no
matter how hard they work. People have lost trust in each other and the
political system and I think that’s very threatening to democracy.”

With regard to her own income from speaking fees, which can be upwards of
$200,000 per speech, Clinton said: “The problem is that people on the
bottom and people in the middle class no longer feel like they have the
opportunity to do better. The question is, how do we get back to having an
economy that works for everybody and that once again gives people the
optimism that they too will be successful.”

Clinton also was asked about her much-criticized earlier comments about
being “dead broke” when she and former President Bill Clinton left the
White House.

“When we came out of the White House, we were deeply in debt because of all
the legal bills that we owed because of the relentless persecution of my
husband and myself,” she said. “And he had to work unbelievably hard to pay
off every single penny of every debt we owed.”

*Politico: “Hillary Clinton on dynasties: We had 2 Roosevelts”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hillary-clinton-political-dynasty-der-spiegel-interview-108652.html?hp=l3>*

By Jonathan Topaz

July 8, 2014, 9:41 a.m. EDT

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday defended her family and the Bushes, saying that
U.S. politics has a history of political families but that the country is
not a “monarchy.”

In an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel, Clinton was asked whether the
U.S. is at risk of becoming a monarchy if she or former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush wins the presidency in 2016.

“We had two Roosevelts. We had two Adams,” the former secretary of State
said, invoking two of the most powerful political families in U.S. history.
“It may be that certain families just have a sense of commitment or even a
predisposition to want to be in politics.”

John Quincy Adams, the sixth U.S. president, was the son of John Adams, the
country’s second president. Former Presidents Theodore and Franklin Delano
Roosevelt were distant cousins.

Some political commentators have suggested that a potential matchup between
Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton would make the U.S. politics feel dynastic,
given those families’ relative dominance over American politics over the
past 25 years.

In the interview Tuesday, Clinton said that her defeat in the 2008
Democratic primary to then-Sen. Barack Obama signifies that name
recognition isn’t enough to succeed in American politics.

“I ran for president, as you remember,” she said. “I lost to somebody named
Barack Obama, so I don’t think there is any guarantee in American politics.
My last name did not help me in the end. Our system is open to everyone. It
is not a monarchy in which I wake up in the morning and abdicate in favor
of my son.”

Former First Lady Barbara Bush, Jeb’s mother, said in January that she
hoped her son wouldn’t run and that politicians from other families should
lead the country.

“I think this is a great American country, great country, and if we can’t
find more than two or three families to run for high office, that’s silly,
because there are great governors and great eligible people to run,” she
said.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday morning showed Clinton as the
clear frontrunner among 2016 Democratic presidential contenders. Bush was
tied for second in the survey of Republican voters, trailing Kentucky Sen.
Rand Paul by one point.

Clinton, who says she is still mulling over whether to run for president,
told Der Spiegel that she will support her daughter Chelsea whether she
chooses to become involved in politics or not.

*Huffington Post: “Ready For Hillary Starts Spreading Its Money Around To
Key States”
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/ready-for-hillary-money_n_5567110.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed>*

By Amanda Terkel

July 8, 2014, 11:38 a.m. EDT

WASHINGTON -- Ready for Hillary, the organization setting the stage for
Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016, has strategically distributed
more than $175,000 to 33 state Democratic parties and national Democratic
organizations.

On May 28, Ready for Hillary shifted from being a super PAC to what's known
as a "hybrid PAC." With the new designation, the group can contribute
directly to federal candidates while still making unlimited expenditures
like a super PAC (provided it's not coordinating with campaigns).

According to a list shared shared exclusively with The Huffington Post,
Ready for Hillary has given money to 27 state Democratic parties and six
national organizations since its shift:

Alaska Democratic Party

Arkansas Democratic Party

Colorado Democratic Party

Delaware Democratic Party

Florida Democratic Party

Democratic Party of Georgia

Idaho Democratic Party

Indiana Democratic Party

Iowa Democratic Party

Kentucky Democratic Party

Louisiana Democratic Party

Maine Democratic Party

Maryland Democratic Party

Massachusetts Democratic Party

Michigan Democratic Party

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Montana Democratic Party

Nevada Democratic Party

New Hampshire Democratic Party

North Carolina Democratic Party

Ohio Democratic Party

South Carolina Democratic Party

South Dakota Democratic Party

Texas Democratic Party

Utah Democratic Party

Democratic Party of Virginia

Democratic Party of Wisconsin

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)

EMILY’s List

Netroots Nation

Women Winning PAC

Young Democrats of America

"Making these direct financial contributions allows Ready for Hillary to
further our mission by boosting grassroots efforts across the country to
elect Democrats in 2014 and beyond," a Ready for Hillary official said in
an email. "This is our initial set of contributions, and we will provide
additional financial support in the coming months while continuing to
channel the enthusiasm of our more than two million grassroots supporters
to help Democrats come out on top this Fall."

Notably, the four early presidential primary states -- Iowa, New Hampshire,
Nevada and South Carolina -- are receiving funds from the group, as are all
the states with major Senate races.

Since Ready for Hillary formed, it has spent more than $5.7 million total,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It has also rented the
list of supporters from Clinton's 2008 presidential run and continued to
build on it through fundraising appeals and events around the country -- an
asset if Clinton does decide to jump into the field for 2016.

Ready for Hillary is also helping to sponsor Democratic events and
conventions -- often coinciding with a financial contribution to a state
Democratic Party -- while holding community events and its Ready for
Hillary Grassroots Tour. The group's prominent bus has been going around
the country, following Clinton as she promotes her new memoir.

The group has also attracted some high-profile supporters who want Clinton
to run, such as Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

*Washington Post blog: Post Politics: “Hillary Clinton ‘sorry’ that
Merkel’s phone was tapped”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/08/hillary-clinton-sorry-that-merkels-phone-was-tapped/>*

By Sean Sullivan

July 8, 2014, 11:29 a.m. EDT

Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview
published Tuesday that it was wrong for U.S. intelligence officials to spy
on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone and said she is "sorry" that
it happened.

"Clearly, the surveillance on Chancellor Merkel's phone was absolutely
wrong. The president said that. I think that he made it very clear it was
unacceptable," Clinton told Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine. She added,
"I'm not in the government anymore, but I'm sorry."

In the interview, Clinton rejected the notion that the American political
process is beginning to resemble a monarchy, given the dominance of her
family and the Bush family. She also defended the money she and Bill
Clinton have made over the years, signaled openness to daughter Chelsea
Clinton entering politics and criticized former National Security Agency
contractor Edward Snowden.

"We are very grateful for where we are today. But if you were to go back
and look at the amount of money that we owed, we couldn't even get a
mortgage on a house by ourselves. In our system, he had to make double what
he needed in order just to pay off the debt, and then to finance a house
and continue to pay for our daughter's education," Clinton said in a
discussion about her family's finances.

When asked about dynasties, Clinton said: "We had two Roosevelts. We had
two Adams. It may be that certain families just have a sense of commitment
or even a predisposition to want to be in politics. I ran for president, as
you remember. I lost to somebody named Barack Obama, so I don't think there
is any guarantee in American politics. My last name did not help me in the
end. Our system is open to everyone. It is not a monarchy in which I wake
up in the morning and abdicate in favor of my son."

Clinton said Snowden has fallen short with his attempt to raise the issue
of domestic surveillance among the American people.

"I think he is a poor messenger for the message that he's trying to take
credit for," she said. "He came into the National Security Agency
apparently with the purpose of trying to gather a lot of information, and
most of what he gathered had nothing to do with surveillance in the United
States, but obviously around the world."

*National Journal: “If Hillary Clinton Doesn't Run, Who Would Lead the
Democratic Field for President?”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/if-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-run-who-would-lead-the-democratic-field-for-president-20140708>*

By Matt Vasilogambros

July 8, 2014

[Subtitle:] Other potential Democratic candidates like Elizabeth Warren and
Andrew Cuomo are largely unknown among potential voters, according to a new
poll.

Hillary Clinton is almost certainly going to run for president. But what if
she doesn't, and the Democratic field winds up wide open?

If she chooses not to run, leaving the Democratic nomination for president
up for the taking, Democrats would be in actual disarray, according to a
new Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday.

Right now, Clinton leads in the potential Democratic field with 58 percent,
topping Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (11 percent), Vice President
Joe Biden (9 percent) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (4 percent). Democrats
clearly expect Clinton will make a run for president, and they would
generally support her candidacy if it happens.

Clinton's lead is much larger than it was at this point in 2006—after which
she would eventually lose the nomination to a little-known senator from
Illinois. In a June 2006 Gallup Poll, she led with 37 percent among
Democrats in a theoretical 2008 matchup, followed by former Vice President
Al Gore at 16 percent, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina at 13
percent, and Secretary of State John Kerry at 12 percent.

But if you take Clinton out of the picture for 2016, the rest of the field
consists of candidates whom Democrats either don't want or don't know.

Take Joe Biden. The vice president holds a strong 73 percent favorability
rating among Democrats, but, clearly, Democrats prefer other people to him
for the presidency. Biden is behind Warren in this latest poll by a couple
of percentage points, and far behind Clinton.

While several Democrats have higher favorable than unfavorable ratings, the
percentage of people who haven't heard enough about them is much higher—50
percent for Cuomo, 88 percent for Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, 53 percent
for Warren, and 88 percent for former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer,
according to this poll.

If Clinton didn't run, Democrats wouldn't know enough about the rest of the
theoretical field to have a clear front-runner.

Now, this all being said, Barack Obama was almost nowhere to be found at
this point in the election cycle in 2006. He managed to get the support of
only 1 percent of all voters when they were asked in June 2006 whom they
would most like to see elected president in 2008. Obama didn't start
hinting he would run for president until later in the summer.

People didn't know much about Obama, but it worked out for him just fine.
It could work out for another Democrat, too.

*Washington Free Beacon: “MSNBC Slams Hillary Clinton Over Rape Tapes”
<http://freebeacon.com/politics/msnbc-slams-hillary-clinton-over-rape-tapes/>*

By Washington Free Beacon Staff

July 8, 2014, 9:01 a.m. EDT

An MSNBC panel slammed Hillary Clinton over the tapes uncovered by the
Washington Free Beacon which record her laughing about freeing a child
rapist, calling her behavior “jarring” and “disturbing.”

“She sounded boastful,” noted Joe Scarborough. “She sounded boastful on the
tape that she was able to get this 41-year-old guy who raped a young girl,
a minor girl, and get him off and  was laughing about the evidence,
laughing about the lie detector test, laughing about a lot of it. It’s
disturbing to say the least, isn’t it?”

The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein agreed, “Yeah, the boastfulness in the
audiotape is certainly disturbing and, you know, whereas she could have
sounded regretful about the circumstances of the case and the outcome but
still admitted this was her job and she fulfilled it.”

Mika Brzezinski asked, “From the boastful tone, is that a problem for
Hillary Clinton, being dismissive of a young girl who was abused sexually?”

Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin replied, “I think it’s a little bit off key given
what her campaign will be about.”

Halperin also speculated that this story shows that the American public may
know less about Clinton than they think they do: “We think we know
everything about her? This story and others that have come out in the last
few months show there’s lots more to come.”

Scarborough added that, while he was an attorney and knows many attorneys,
he has never heard anyone discuss defending a child rapist in the flippant
manner Clinton displays in the tape. “That is jarring,” he said.  ”I’m not
sure why she is bragging about getting a child rapist two months.”

Al Sharpton concurred with the other panelists, observing, “It clearly is
not the kind of situation that she wants to have to defend when you’re
hearing your own voice taking lightly something that speaks to one of your
core issues, and that is the value of women.”