Clinton Insiders Fear Secret Service Records Could Damage Campaign

Even as Hillary Clinton's operatives were dropping hints that Republicans would exploit Barack Obama's youthful drug use, some Clinton insiders privately worried about her own vulnerability because the Bush administration possesses detailed knowledge of her movements - and her husband's - over the past seven years.

Because of Sen. Clinton's unique status as the first former First Lady to run for President - and because her husband was succeeded by a Republican - she is the first candidate to have both her and her spouse be subject to regular, long-term surveillance by an Executive Branch agency controlled by the opposing political party.

Since they left the White House in 2001, Bill and Hillary Clinton have been under the protection of the Secret Service, formerly a branch of the Treasury Department and now part of the Homeland Security Department. Records are maintained showing where they go and whom they meet.

Homeland Security is under the control of Michael Chertoff, a longtime Clinton nemesis dating back to his work as a Republican lawyer on the Senate's Whitewater investigation in the 1990s. In 2003, Sen. Clinton cast the sole dissenting vote against Chertoff's nomination as a federal judge in protest against his abrasive conduct during the Whitewater inquiry.

Though Secret Service records are supposed to be closely held secrets, a source close to the Clintons told me that it is believed that senior Republicans have received regular briefings about movements of the Clintons that might prove embarrassing if released during the general election campaign.

Click here to read more about Hillary's potential vulnerability, and the tightrope her campaign walked attacking Obama last week, on Consortium News.

Comments

[geobushono]

let me guess. Moonlight Bunny Ranch?

[UtahLiberal435]

Yawn. Another innuendo hit piece. Classic Clinton-hater trash. More worthy of Karl Rove than a progressive journalist. "Insiders privately worried" "secret service officials" "Clinton campaign operatives­"....not an attributed quote in the piece.

Parry's gone off the tracks. If he wants to be a full-on Obama supporter (which he demonstrably is) that's fine. But don't hide it behind innuendo 'journalis­m.' Seems he's channeling Jonah Goldberg these days.

[MoeSart]

There is nothing in the papers. Why or how is another discussion.

The Clintons are pulling a Karl Rove here, though. Hold back just enough to create a mania, then when it all comes out there is nothing there and the accusers end up looking like fools and/or suckers.

You would think liberals and the media would learn how this game is played after a while.

[MRb1000]

Bill Clinton needs to stop using that finger because some of us have PTSD. LOL

[huffposeur]

"Though Secret Service records are supposed to be closely held secrets, a source close to the Clintons told me that it is believed that senior Republicans have received regular briefings about movements of the Clintons that might prove embarrassing if released during the general election campaign."

I doubt that is true; every secret service agent I've ever met has been very apolitical. But it's easy to understand how hillary, having retrieved the FBI files of 900 friends and enemies, would jump to such a paranoid conclusion.

the secret service has been around since the days of lincoln and alan pinkerton. anyone who thinks michael chertoff has the ability to make them not only spill secrets, but brief key republicans on the clintons' movements, is crazy.

but then again, that's what this board is all about: a forum for the crazies. witness yesterday's rapidly closed thread about the fire in cheney's office. I don't know if it's shocking or funny that so many people on this board truly seemed to believe that sensitive materials were being burned in cheney's office and that is what caused the fire.

think about it, huffidiots! cheney wants to break the law and destroy incriminating evidence and thye only way to do it is burn the material in his office in the middle of the day?

Get a grip. If you want a conspiracy theory to latch on to, just wait till hillary has obama, um, eliminated, and not just eliminated from the presidential race....

[Nofoolhere]

Our next President must be on record as opposing the current role of corporate America and its stranglehold that is destroying our Constitution and our way of life.

What is the secret for identifying that candidate?

Its the candidate most feared and despised by corporate America and its lobbyist and Congressional lackeys.

That candidate is the one now being most ignored by the MSM.

That candidate is Johns Edwards. Haven't your noticed, that except for a few cameo appearances and formula appearances (we interview every presidential candidate) you never hear anything of him? Is he still speaking in Iowa? Has he made any public comments anywhere?

Have you heard anybody mention his domination of the Iowa Democratic Debate when the opinion tracking mechanism used during a candidate's comments to make visible the audience's approval showed Edward moving up off the chart time and time again when the corporate role in our national disaster was challenged by him. Yet the MSM has been silent about the significance of this silent reaching out by the Iowa caucus members at that debate.

[luckyoldson]

Is Huffington actually saying we DON'T KNOW where Bill and Hillary have been over the past seven years?

REALLY?

Does she really think they somehow disappeared for a few days, without the press knowing about it...witho­ut it even surfacing? (I've seen telephoto shots of them on beaches, and about 2,000 shots of Bill, Chelsea and Hillary doing everything from walking, talking and golfing.)

Good lord...I don't know what it is about Huffington's obvious bias and hatred of Bill & Hillary, but I'll lay odds if Clinton is elected...­you won't be seeing Ariana anywhere near the White House.

[WoodyCPM]

I don't believe Clinton is going to change anything. She's the status quo candidate because her money comes from the same sources as Dick Cheney's does. However, if she's the nominee, I will hold my nose and vote for her.

[wmbear]

WHEN DID THEY HAVE SEX AND WITH WHOM?...

The lurid details, please....

(I mean, isn't this the real "subtext" of the story?...)

[williamg]

Hillary Clinton - our next Richard Nixon.

[Truth789]

That's bullshit that they can give out monitored information of only Hillary Clinton.

If that's the case, every candidate should be monitored on a daily basis.

[MPeter]

December 19, 2007 -- Chicago, IL -- Over sixty foreign policy experts, with experience ranging from the State Department and the Pentagon, to the White House and the U.S. Congress, today announced their endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President.

The group, which includes individuals who have served under every President since John F. Kennedy, said that Obama has the judgment to lead America at this pivotal moment in history, and the ability to take on unconventional threats and restore America's security and standing in the world.

"On the most important foreign policy decision of the last twenty years, Barack Obama made the right judgment in opposing the war in Iraq. His combination of sound judgment, global understanding, and bold and detailed policy proposals is exactly what America needs in a President at this critical moment in our history," said Larry Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration.

Their endorsement came as Obama held a Foreign Policy Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, where he and several of his top foreign policy advisors engaged in a n open dialogue with Iowa residents on the challenges America faces and how Obama would address them as President. At the event, Obama discussed his specific plans to end the war in Iraq, renew American diplomacy, pursue aggressive diplomacy with Iran, fight terrorism and extremism, and lead the world against the threats of the 21st century.

[tkk]

Arianna needs to shut down this blog and start a campaign blog for Obama. Please.

Ooh, I'm real scared of the Clintons, they had this country in the most democratic state it's ever been in.

[Titiman]

Folks. I dont have anything against Sen Clinton but the campaign she is running is the biggest threat to the Democratic party.

1.They want to destroy Mr Obama to get nomination.
2.Then independents will flee to republicans
3.Young voters wont vote in the general
4.African americans will be devastated(rightly so) at the personal DESTRUCTION Obama went through and wont vote.
5.Hillary already high negatives will skyrocket
6.Repblica­ns will be energized and vote in numbers
7. Democratic party will lose the elections
8.America will be on for another 8yrs of rule of terror mongering and cowboy diplomacy.

Hilary campaign has just broken a record to be the first campaign to build an all-out attack website to wipe off Obama.

Unbelievable nagative campaign!Can the DLC call Hilary to order!

[MrBritesnide]

Just a daily tidbit for the Hillary hating mysoginists out there. So in keeping with the season of good will to spread dirt about the Clintons. You backbiting haters that post crap like this, are tired...yo­u've been at it for six months and haven't made a dent, but you never give up. When it's CLEAR that other aspects of the her campaign are more interesting, you Clinton bashing creeps gotta draw your daily caricature, or yout tiny-ass lives are pretty much unfullfilled. You sound more pathetic than your EVER make Hillary out to be.