Clinton And Controversy -The Long Descent of U.S. Politics

Whether you’re a person on a desolate island or living under a rock, you are no stranger to scandals in U.S. politics. A long and tiring democratic brawl between the Democrats and Republicans that always gets Americans riled up.

THE TRUTH

And as the clock ticks down to election month, voters wait with grueling anticipation on who will lead their country. Or in most cases ‘who can they blame when things go wrong’. For American citizens it’s a serious few months full of curious decision making and furious finger pointing. This goes both for candidates that they hate and love. And for the rest of the world it turns into the new international pass time.

But during these months of debates and questioning, the truth spouts out. And history has been a testimony that such truth sparks massive public outrage. Some candidates like Nixon faced the public eye once elected. But strangely one of the candidates this year faced a truth bomb fairly early.

THE ACCUSATION

Hillary Clinton is the second member from the Clinton family to be in the news but for all the wrong reasons. A major portion of the American public forgave Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal erupted. His wife is facing a fresh new list of charges. With a serious history of controversies, the recent accusations are not to be neglected.

To summarize, during her time as the U.S. Secretary of State, the Democrat front runner preferred to use her family’s private email server. Rather than using the server emails used by the State, she communicated using personal accounts. After allegations surfaced that some of the emails in question contained confidential information, the FBI stepped in to investigate.At time it was sent, 113 emails contained content which was classified.

Though only a few were classified, 65 emails were deemed “Secret” and 22 were deemed “Top Secret.”

The State Department found out as many as 2,100 classified mails. As a result, the judiciary once again put Clinton under the scanner to search for tampering and misuse of information.  But things only exacerbated after the allegations surfaced of her deleting nearly 30,000 e-mails.

The Clinton administration is no stranger to controversy and has been the subject of some real chicanery.

THE HISTORY

• Cattle futures controversy:-  In 1994, after she entered the White House, the trading(from $1000 to $100,000)  became the centre of much debate. There were allegations of possible conflict of interest and bribery. There was no official investigations of the trading and Clinton was never charged with any wrongdoing.

  

Whitewater controversy:

Both Bill and Hillary pressured David Hale into providing a loan of $300,000 to Susan McDougal. Wife of Jim McDougal, they were members of the WhiteWater Development Corporation. An investigation into the failed business resulted in the McDougals’ prosecution.

White House FBI files controversy:

Craig Livingstone, Director of Personnel security, received background reports on top level Republicans in 1994. But he was underqualified and had no such authorization. While Livingstone resigned on further protests, allegations surfaced that Hillary Clinton was behind the request. They mostly consisted of her attempts to gain political advantage.

Travelgate:

In 1993, the White House dismissed seven employees without reason. The administration blamed it on the FBI for pointing out financial inconsistencies in the Travel Office operation. But many believed it to be a scam to allow Clinton’s friends to take over the travel business. Hillary Clinton was scrutinized for making false statements but all charges against her were dropped.

CONCLUSION AND VERDICT

While FBI Director James Comey may have cleared the candidate by calling her careless, a bigger question remains. What will the State Department find on further probing? And will this have any effect on Clinton’s image as a woman candidate? And is Hillary Clinton’s only standing point in her campaign the fact that she is a woman?

One thing is for sure. She now has a lot of responsibility for the way Americans will view future female candidates. If elected the responsibility would further intensify and all her actions will have a lasting impact.

Featured Image Courtesy : Yahoo Finance