Hillary Clinton Issues Awful Statement About Her Protection of Sexual Harasser, Lashes Out at New York Times

Hillary Clinton Issues Awful Statement About Her Protection of Sexual Harasser, Lashes Out at New York Times

Hillary Clinton has issued a lengthy statement about her refusal to fire a man accused of sexual harassment and lashed out at the New York Times for reporting on her wrongdoing.

The sneaky former-First Lady posted the full statement on her Facebook page at 8:45 p.m., as all eyes were on President Donald Trump for his first State of the Union address.

The statement claims that if she could go back to her 2008 campaign and fire Burns Strider, she would. The 1,500+ word post details her thinking at the time, including why she thought it would be best to move the woman to another position instead of firing the man that was victimizing her.

The New York Times reported last week that “Mr. Strider, who was Mrs. Clinton’s faith adviser, was a founder of the American Values Network and sent the candidate scripture readings every morning for months during the campaign, was hired five years later to lead an independent group that supported Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 candidacy, Correct the Record, which was created by a close Clinton ally, David Brock,” though he was later fired for the same type of sexual misconduct allegations.

In her statement, Clinton confirmed the NYT reporting that her campaign manager at the time had recommended he be fired — which she ignored.

“In 2007, a woman working on my campaign came forward with a complaint about her supervisor behaving inappropriately toward her. She and her complaint were taken seriously. Senior campaign staff and legal counsel spoke to both her and the offender. They determined that he had in fact engaged in inappropriate behavior. My then-campaign manager presented me with her findings. She recommended that he be fired,” Clinton admit. “I asked for steps that could be taken short of termination. In the end, I decided to demote him, docking his pay; separate him from the woman; assign her to work directly for my then-deputy-campaign manager; put in place technical barriers to his emailing her; and require that he seek counseling. He would also be warned that any subsequent harassment of any kind toward anyone would result in immediate termination.”

Clinton, the feminist icon, added that she “didn’t think firing him was the best solution to the problem.”

“He needed to be punished, change his behavior, and understand why his actions were wrong. The young woman needed to be able to thrive and feel safe. I thought both could happen without him losing his job,” the post continued.

The post continued on to say that she had called the woman after she was contacted by the New York Times, and claims that the woman “expressed appreciation that she worked on a campaign where she knew she could come forward without fear,” and “she was glad that her accusations were taken seriously, that there was a clear process in place for dealing with harassment, and that it was followed.” It is unclear if she was actually happy to speak to Clinton or if she just feared being added to the “Clinton Body Count.”

The former Secretary of State also took direct aim at the New York Times — something which she has been harshly critical of the Trump administration for doing.

“Indeed, while we are revisiting whether my decision from a decade ago was harsh enough, many employers would be well served to take actions at least as severe when confronted with problems now – including the very media outlet that broke this story. They recently opted to suspend and reinstate one of their journalists who exhibited similarly inappropriate behavior, rather than terminate him. A decade from now, that decision may not look as tough as it feels today. The norms around sexual harassment will likely have continued to change as swiftly and significantly in the years to come as they have over the years until now,” Clinton wrote bitterly, referring to Glenn Thrush.

The craziest thing about it all of those words and equivocating and faux sincerity, yet no reference to the Bill Clinton shaped elephant in the room

— Bobby (@BobbyLibby) January 31, 2018

Following the statement, a Twitter user named Bobby Libby noted, “The craziest thing about it all of those words and equivocating and faux sincerity, yet no reference to the Bill Clinton shaped elephant in the room.”