A Republican super PAC is criticizing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's national security credentials ahead of a speech in Philadelphia, ABC News reported Monday.
In a research document titled "Clinton Can't Be Trusted On Privacy," the group claims that Clinton's planned remarks at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center "will not be driven by concerns over either national security or privacy, but rather by politics."
"It doesn’t matter what Hillary Clinton says next Tuesday, because her record on civil liberties in
intelligence gathering is one of political expedience over privacy or national security," America Rising executive director Tim Miller wrote in the six-page memo. "She simply cannot be trusted."
As ABC reported, the document links Clinton to the Obama administration's surveillance programs, which have drawn intense scrutiny as former defense contractor Edward Snowden leaks secret documents on the National Security Agency's practices.
"It is simply implausible that Secretary Clinton.. [did] not understand the size and scope of the NSA and other agencies' surveillance programs," Miller writes. "Any claims of not knowing would amount to willful ignorance on her part, going out of her way to avoid learning information about the sources of intelligence she was relying upon."
Clinton will receive the Liberty Medal on Tuesday evening at the Philadelphia center. While Clinton was originally set to speak on civil liberties and national security, she will reportedly now focus her remarks on the crisis in Syria and her support for President Barack Obama's case for a military strike.
Politico reports:
A Clinton source said that the upcoming policy speech on transparency and national security she'd referred to in an American Bar Association address last month "was overtaken by events some time ago." Clinton aides have struggled for almost two weeks to explain that the speech was no longer going to be the major address it was once expected to be. Instead, it will be a mix of different ideas and topics, the source said.
"Given the developments in Syria over the last few weeks, plans for a robust policy speech in Philadelphia where she is to receive the Liberty Medal on Tuesday night were put on hold," said the source. "It's simply and obviously not the right time. Furthermore, she is very mindful that she will be speaking only an hour or so before the President addresses the nation."
Obama will speak Tuesday at 9 p.m. eastern time.
America Rising's attack on Clinton's national security record is the latest part of the group's "Stop Hillary 2016" effort, which looks to stem growing support for a potential presidential run by the former first lady.
"America Rising was formed to prevent Americans from ever having to see another Clinton in the White House," the group's website reads. "We’ve seen what a President Hillary Clinton would be like from her time as Secretary of State. We can’t afford another Clinton administration after eight years of President Obama."
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