Normally, out of a sense of decorum, but also the fear of reprisal, politicians are careful when bringing up the peccadilloes of their opponents, especially when they occurred more than 20 years ago, involve unproven allegations, and the subject is sex. For that reason Bill Clinton has mostly gotten a free-pass on his serial womanizing.
Donald Trump, of course, is not a normal politician, and he has been fearless in his attacks on Hillary as a brazen enabler of her husband’s sexual conquests of a many women, including Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Juanita Broaddrick and Monica Lewinsky.
How close to the mark are Trump’s claims? Given their justifiable fear of more “bimbo eruptions,” as an aide to Clinton once put it, in 1992 the Clinton campaign reportedly spent some $100,000 on private detectives assigned to investigate potential accusers, force them to sign affidavits denying any affairs, or, failing that, dig up dirt on them. Hillary almost certainly was aware of the money’s purpose and she was part of the strategy sessions held to counter “bimbo” accusations. She helped prepare Bill for his “60 Minutes” interview in which he denied any sexual relationship with Gennifer Flowers, although Bill later admitted he did have sex with her once (it was almost certainly more than once).
Hillary also tabbed super lawyer Bob Bennett to handle Bill’s defense against Paula Jones, who filed a lawsuit accusing Clinton of propositioning her and exposing himself in a hotel room. Bennett promptly hired another lawyer to subpoena men who would testify to Jones’ promiscuity. Jones’ allegations were never proven, but it was proven that Arkansas State Troopers had escorted her to Bill’s hotel room, and he agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $850,000, which was $100,000 more than her original lawsuit demanded.
As for Juanita Broaddrick, her claim that Clinton raped her, while never proven, was entirely credible, and she has never wavered from it. Three weeks after the alleged rape, according to Broaddrick, she attended a Clinton event when Hillary came up to her and said, “’I just want you to know how much Bill and I appreciate what you do for him.” When Broaddrick didn’t respond, Hillary said, “Do you understand? Everything that you do.” Broaddrick believed that meant Hillary was both thanking her for keeping quiet and warning her to remain so.
Finally, there was Hillary’s reaction to Monica Lewinsky, whom Hillary called “Loony,” and said Lewinsky’s claim of an affair was a lie perpetrated by a “vast right-wing conspiracy” out to get her husband.
As we now know, Lewinsky was not “loony,” there was no “right-wing conspiracy,” and her affair with Bill was not a lie.
Bet on it: Trump isn’t letting this go.
