New polling finds Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues with strong marks from the American public — BUT — lingering headlines over 9/11 Benghazi attack, amid other Obama scandals, have started to take a toll on Democrat front-runner for President in 2016
A Bloomberg National Poll shows that, even though Hillary Clinton hasn’t said that she’ll be running for president in 2016, the pre-campaign pounding by the combined GOP, Fox News and other right wing opposition is already having some impact. Former Secretary of State Clinton’s political standing is declining since her January “Benghazi” testimony before Congress after months of criticism of her handling of all things related to Benghazi
This interesting teaser came from Liz Benjamin’s “TW2” post in yesterday's Capital Tonight: “Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating has fallen”; it set me off on a trail of reports and articles about Hillary Clinton’s recent polling numbers (See “The Weekend That Was” by Liz Benjamin, 6/9/13, YNN Capital Tonight [http://capitaltonightny.ynn.com/2013/06/the-weekend-that-was-145/]).
Benjamin’s tidbit links to a terse CNN report quoting a pair of polls by Bloomberg and Quinnipiac.
According to CNN, a Bloomberg Poll released last Friday and a recent Quinnipiac University survey both indicated Clinton's favorable rating had gone down since she testafied at the Benghazi hearings [and the other emergent Obama scandals have muddied the waters] (See “Poll: Hillary Clinton's favorable rating dips” Posted by CNN Political Unit, 6/7/13
[http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/07/poll-hillary-clintons-favorable-rating-dips/comment-page-1/]). Friday’s Bloomberg Poll indicated a fall-off of 12 percentage points since December to 58% of Americans saying they have a positive view of the former first lady and senator from New York; during the same time, the proportion of those who say they have a very unfavorable view of Hillary Clinton has doubled to 22% from 11%. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed a drop in Clinton's favorabity rating of nine percentage points from 61% to 52%.
That information was also reported on Friday in a WSJ feature along with WSJ/NBC polling that also contained some other bad news for Hillary from the Bloomberg Poll: “The Bloomberg poll found that 47% disapprove of Mrs. Clinton’s handling of Benghazi, while 34% approve.” (See “Hillary Clinton’s Ratings Slip in Bloomberg Poll” by Rebecca Ballhaus, 6/7/13, Wall Street Journal [http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/06/07/hillary-clintons-ratings-slip-in-bloomberg-poll/]).
That piece also indicated that recent polling was very good news for those thinking about Chris Christie’s future as a presidential candidate.
Needless to say it was Bloomberg News that was the pacesetter on this story, and was ahead of the pack and the principal engine driving it in the three-to-four day news cycle over the weekend ( See “Clinton Slips in Poll After Benghazi Hits, Christie’s Up” by John McCormick, 6/6/13 [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-07/clinton-slips-in-poll-after-benghazi-hits-christie-s-up.html]).
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UPDATE: STATE DEPARTMENT SEX SCANDAL COVERUP ALLEGED BY CBS
Now, Hillary Clinton needs to worry about how her polling will be effected by other State Department scandals and coverups — In reporting on those scandals, one blogger observed that “... Hillary Clinton’s approval rating is dropping quickly. That’s one thing she’s probably not reacting to by saying “what difference does it make?”.
Now, CBS News has reported that the U.S. State Department may have covered up allegations of illegal behavior ranging from sexual assaults to an underground drug ring. Documents from the IG of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) implicate the State Department in various acts of misconduct worldwide (See “CBS News: U.S. State Department Cover-Ups Range From Prostitution Charges to Drug Rings,” 6/1/13, CBSDC [http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/06/10/cbs-news-u-s-state-department-cover-ups-range-from-prostitution-charges-to-drug-rings/]).
CBS News’ John Miller reports that a DSS memo exists from an IG, which cited specific examples of sexual wrongdoing and the State Department’s failure to properly investigate and followup on such reports, including the following: a State Department security official in Beirut “engaged in sexual assaults” with foreign nationals hired as embassy guards and the charge and that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail “engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries” — a problem the report says was “endemic”; State Department internal investigators also uncovered several allegations of criminal wrongdoing in cases, some of which never were formally prosecuted; other DSS agents were simply told to back off of investigations of high-ranking State Department members, allowing criminal behavior to continue; in one such cover-up, investigators were told to stop probing the case of a U.S. ambassador, who ditched his security detail and was suspected of patronizing prostitutes in a public park. Several of the incidents did or could have compromised State Department security.
The same story has been picked up by the print media including the Washington Times (See “Sex scandals, covered-up crimes hit at State Department: memo” by Cheryl K. Chumley, 6/10/13 [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/10/sex-scandals-covered-crimes-hit-state-department-m/]); and the Christian Science Monitor, which reports that “[t]he State Department is under fire after an internal memo has surfaced that claims investigations into employee misbehavior were called off or manipulated.” (See “State Department may have covered up sex and drug scandals, report says” by David T. Cook, 6/10/13 [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/0610/State-Department-may-have-covered-up-sex-and-drug-scandals-report-says?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feeds%2Fcsm+(Christian+Science+Monitor+%7C+All+Stories)]); along with several blogs, such as The Blaze (See “ANOTHER SCANDAL? REPORT CLAIMS STATE DEPT. MAY HAVE COVERED-UP STAFFERS’ PROSTITUTION, DRUG ACTIVITY” by Billy Hallowell, 6/10/13 [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/10/another-scandal-report-claims-state-dept-may-have-covered-up-staffers-prostitution-drug-activity/]); and Michelle Malkin’s Blog ( See “CBS News: State Department may have been involved in series of cover-ups” by Doug Powers, 6/10/13 [http://michellemalkin.com/2013/06/10/cbs-state-department-cover-ups/?utm_source=co2hog]).
In that last-cited item by Doug Powers on Michelle Malkin’s blog, Mr. Powers observed that “In a related story, Hillary Clinton’s approval rating is dropping quickly. That’s one thing she’s probably not reacting to by saying “what difference does it make?”
FURTHER UPDATE:
NEW YORK POST FEATURE REPORT
A feature length two page spread on the State Department Sex Scandals and cover-up appeared in the Tuesday New York Post (See "Hillary’s sorry state of affairs -- Probes into her department’s sex scandals were quashed, memo says") by S.A. MILLER and GEOFF EARLE, 6/11/13 [http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/hillary_sorry_state_of_affairs_YVapkHqM3mz6CVjehZOh7K]). The biggest bombshell involved the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, who is alleged to have used underaged prostitutes.
One of the key items of the feature was the full description and history of the whisleblower, Aurelia Fedenisn, along with names and details of the investigations quashed by those high up in the State Department, up to and including Hillary Clinton's top assistant Cheryl Mills.
CNN GIVES LENGTHY ANALYSIS OF REPORT ON STATE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATIVE SHORTCOMINGS
More coverage came late Tuesday evening when CNN did a lengthy analysis of the State Department IG's report that gave details of the failings of the State Departments internal investigative procedures (See "Prostitution, drugs alleged in State Department memo" by Ashley Fantz and Jill Dougherty, 6/11/13, CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/11/politics/state-department-allegations/index.html]). stating, "... the bureau 'lacks a firewall' that would preclude higher-ups from 'exercising undue influence in particular cases'.... The division's current management structure ... does not 'foster independence from career pressures and creates significant potential for undue influence, favoritism, and potential retribution'."
FURTHER UPDATE:
Is Fox News starting to show OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SCANDAL FATIGUE ?
Bill O'Reilly's first guest Wednesday night, James Rosen, discussed the leaked original report from the State Department IG about the foiled investigations of sexual misconduct and other matters; and some of the implications of the original and final report . O'Reilly glibly cut off Rosen by saying something about its just something else showing that the State Department is a mess --- O'Reilly then moved on to a rundown of other Obama Administration scandals...
BACKFILL OF BACKFILL:
HILLARY'S FORMAL DENIAL
Buried deep in the CNN post cited above is the following: "On Tuesday, Nicholas Merrill, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton, said Clinton was completely unaware of any of the investigations mentioned in the Office of the Inspector General's reports and memos, including the case involving her personal security detail allegedly soliciting prostitutes. *** 'We learned of it from the media and don't know anything beyond what's been reported,' Merrill told CNN in a written statement" (See "Prostitution, drugs alleged in State Department memo" by Ashley Fantz and Jill Dougherty, 6/11/13, CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/11/politics/state-department-allegations/index.html]).
Clearly Hillary and/or her spokesperson is/are taking a page out of President Barack Obama's scandals playbook, in the part that goes like this, “.... We learned of it from the media and don’t know anything beyond what’s been reported...”
This is was Breitbart.com had to say about the Hillary Clinton spokesperson's formal denial of knowledge concerning these matters: "For her statement to be true, Clinton would have to not know that members of her protective detail were disciplined and reassigned away from her for having sex with prostitutes in hotels she stayed at in foreign countries including Russia and Colombia; that a 2008 bundler to the Obama campaign appointed ambassador to Belgium was brought home for questioning about allegations by his security detail that he repeatedly ditched them to have sex with underage prostitutes in a Brussels park known for boy prostitutes; that a security official was accused of sexually assaulting foreigners hired as guards in as many as four nations; that her chief of staff squelched an investigation of a nominee to be ambassador to Iraq; that a drug ring supplied State Department security contractors in Baghdad and that the State Department involved shooting deaths of four Hondurans, including two pregnant women, was blocked by a high ranking State Department official..." (See "HILLARY CLINTON DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF STATE DEPARTMENT SCANDALS, COVER-UPS" by Kristinn Taylor, 6/12/13, Breitbart/Big Government [http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/12/Clinton-Kerry-State-Dept-Scandals]).
UPDATE: MORE PROBLEMS ARE COMING FOR HILLARY
Two of Hillary Clinton's top State Department assistants are entangled in controversies that could spell more problems for Hillary going forward. Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin (Weiner) are again/still in the news in connection with their tenure on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's staff and for their other connections with various things Clinton.
Tom Fitton of the Daily Caller did a short piece about Chryl Mills and how she is a personal connection between the older Clinton-era scandals and now Hillary's own problems with Benghazi. He noted that she is a close insider with a history of being a fixer for Hillary (See "Cheryl Mills, Clinton cover-up expert, strikes again" by Tom Fitton, 6/12/13, Daily Caller[http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/12/cheryl-mills-clinton-cover-up-expert-strikes-again/#ixzz2WGCT3wF5]).
Surely, Issa and some of his Oversight Committee members like Chaffetz are looking forward to calling Cheryl Mills to testify about her specific involvement in the Benghazi flap, including the lead-up to the attack, the fatal night of the event, and the State Department and Secretary of State's role in the cover-up in the aftermath of the attack. It should be clear that to get at President Obama on the Benghazi scandal, it is up to the GOP members on the House Oversight Committee to undue former Secretary Clinton's Benghazi defenses layer by layer until they can get another crack at the former Secretary of State fully exposed.
On a tangential but still a very critical line of inquiry, The New York Post has reported that "One of the Senate’s most aggressive investigators is probing longtime Hillary Rodham Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s employment status, asking how she got a sweetheart deal to be a private six-figure consultant while still serving as a top State Department official [Note: Huma Abedin is one of Clinton’s most loyal aides, is married to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, and has a problematic family history that includes close connections to the Muslim Brotherhood] (See "Politician seeks answers on Weiner wife Huma Abedin's private consulting gig" by Geoff Earle, 6-15-13, NY Post (Washington) {http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/heat_on_huma_GLxXhBHaPfr02d65yvXeoK]).
Even though the story of Huma Abedin's special State Department work status and outside consulting broke about a month ago, according to the report in the NY Post, Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, recently sent a three-page letter to Abedin and Secretary of State John Kerry, asking Abedin and Kerry how Ms. Abedin-Weiner served as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff when Clinton was Secretary of State, and then became a “special government employee” who was able to haul in cash as a private contractor after her husband had been forced to resign from Congress.
Geoff Earle's feature report indicates that: "The couple hauled in as much as $350,000 in outside income on top of Abedin’s $135,000 government salary after Weiner quit Congress ...." Senator Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee , wrote in his letter about his concern that Huma Abedin-Weiner's status “blurs the line between public- and private-sector employees, especially when employees receive full-time salaries for what appears to be part-time work.”
The Mills and Abedin connections should get very interesting because there is much more to tell about each of these stories and certainly even more will be uncovered. Also, I would expect that it would become a significant question to be raised in the context of Anthony Weiner's run for Mayor of New York.
FOLLOW-UP: FIRST RIPPLE IN HUMA ABEDIN STORY IS IN WEINER MAYORAL CAMPAIGN
This is how Politicker's Colin Campbell and Ross Barkan opened their post about Huma Abedin's problematic money-making arrangements while on the U.S. State Department payroll: "Yesterday, Politico and other outlets reported that Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was investigating whether Huma Abedin’s role in the U.S. State Department conflicted with her private consulting work. Ms. Abedin, of course, is the wife of Anthony Weiner, a Democrat mounting a high-profile campaign for mayor this year. Politicker caught up with Mr. Weiner earlier today to get his take on the situation" (See "FAMILY MATTERS -- Weiner Defends Huma’s Honor in Face of Iowa Senator’s Inquiry") by Colin Campbell & Ross Barkan, 6/15/13, NY Observer/Politicker [http://politicker.com/2013/06/weiner-defends-humas-honor-in-face-of-iowa-senators-inquiry/]).
Anthony Weiner was reported to have said this to the Politicker reporter(s) at a Forest Hills campaign stop, “I’m proud of my wife and I’m proud of the work she’s done. And I think she has lived a career in public life [where] everything has been documented.... So I’m very proud of my wife and what she’s accomplished. And she has done everything completely above board with approval of the State Department. And that’s the end of that.”
Campbell and Barkan did not let that demurer by Mr. Weiner cut off the rest of their coverage about Grassley's questions about how Ms. Abedin's duties on the staff of Secretary of State were able to dovetail with her consulting work for Teneo Holdings, a firm with long contacts with the Clintons. The politicker article then filled in a few details of Senator Grassley's letter to the current Secretary of State, as follows: "Mr. Grassley’s inquiry, reportedly sent to both Secretary of State John Kerry and the consulting firm, Teneo Holdings, features a wide range of questions concerning what exactly her government and private business roles entailed and who authorized them. Specifically, Mr. Grassley wants to know if 'political intelligence' from the Department of State helped inform her work with Teneo."
BACKFILL: This story was also reported by Politico on Saturday ( See "Huma Abedin allowed to represent clients while at State" by Maggie Haberman, John Bresnahan and Glenn Thrush, 6/16/13, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/huma-abedin-consultant-state-91503.html#ixzz2WMQIlpeh] ) and on Friday by the NY Daily News (See "Politics -- GOP senator questions Weiner's wife about time working for Clinton and as consultant" by DAn Friedman, 6/1/13, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/senator-questions-weiner-wife-clinton-consultant-jobs-article-1.1373420#ixzz2WMPTADS2]).
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