Can You Hear Me Now, Hillary?

Prepare yourself for the next big Clinton scandal. As The Hill reports today, a new GOP strategy has metastasized which relies heavily on claims made in the book "Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by New York Times reporters Don Van Natta Jr. and Jeff Gerth.

The explosive accusation is that, back in 1992, staffers for the Clintons intercepted the frequency of a cell phone conversation in which political rivals were discussing the possibility of bringing forth another woman who had had "sexual relations" with Bill. Hillary is said to have listened to the conversation, which, by that time, was against the law.

From the Hill:

A GOP official said, "Hillary Clinton's campaign hypocrisy continues to know no bounds. It is rather unbelievable that Clinton would listen in to conversations being conducted by political opponents, but refuse to allow our intelligence agencies to listen in to our conversations being conducted by terrorists as they plot and plan to kill us. Team Clinton can expect to see and hear this over and over again over the course of the next year."

Oh joy. Of course, the timing of the release of this fifteen year-old-scandal, as anonymously sourced in a widely panned book, couldn't be worse for Mrs. Clinton. It coincides with the revelation that Verizon eagerly handed over phone records to the FBI without bothering to inquire whether doing so was legal. If you've ever wondered who that hipster guy in glasses in the television ads was talking to when he asks, "Can you hear me now?" now you have your answer. The boys at the bureau. Now that's a network!

But back to Hillary Clinton. If the allegation of listening in on an enemy's phone conversation was true, this would, indeed, make her something of a hypocrite. In fact, it would make her a criminal, just as Verizon may yet be found to have broken the law. So, the obvious question is, why hasn't law enforcement looked into the matter? Another intriguing aspect of the story is, why didn't we hear about the other woman named in the purported phone call? If she indeed existed, why wouldn't the Clintons' foes trot her out into the light of day as threatened? Tune in next week to "Unsolved Clinton Mysteries."

If you're thinking that something doesn't quite add up about this story, you may be right. Consider the review that "Her Way" received in Van Natta and Gerth's own paper by revered presidential historian Robert Dallek:

The book is almost uniformly negative and overly focused on what they consider the Clinton's scandalous past and darker aspects of Mrs. Clinton's personality. Her ambition, for example, is seen as an unattractive compulsion that, at times, has led her into untoward behavior. They assert that the Clintons had a longstanding deal to win the presidency, first for Bill and then for Hillary, a secret pact of ambition.

The evidence of such a pact-interviews that have already been challenged in the press-is less than convincing. Moreover, that the Clintons are ambitions and hunger for the public spotlight is obvious. But does this make them different from anyone else in politics, including two of our most notable presidents, Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt?

Whether or not we should believe the central claim, that Hillary herself listened to a recorded cell phone conversation, was taken up by none other than Hannity and Colmes when the authors appeared on their show to promote the book. The transcript can be read here.

So will this matter impact upon Mrs. Clinton's presidential aspirations? If the allegations could be proven, certainly, and deservedly so. But baring that iron-clad evidence, you can just add it to the pile of discarded scandals that failed to bring her down. This woman is more teflon than Ronald Reagan.




David Knowles is author of novels The Third Eye and The Secrets of the Camera Obscura.