Fact check: Donald Trump’s spotty memory on Libya
Donald Trump is displaying a spotty memory about his past views on foreign policy. Just as he claimed to have loudly opposed the Iraq invasion before it happened, which he didn’t, Trump claimed in the latest Republican presidential debate that he never called for U.S. intervention in Libya, which he did. Some claims made in the Thursday’s debate and how they stack up against the facts: TED CRUZ: Trump “agreed with the Obama-Clinton policy of toppling the government in Libya. That was a disaster. It gave the country over to radical Islamic terrorism and it endangered America.” TRUMP: “He said I was in favor of Libya? I never discussed that subject. I was in favor of Libya? We would be so much better off if Gadhafi were in charge right now.” THE FACTS: He actually argued on numerous occasions, and fervently so, that the U.S. should intervene to stop a humanitarian disaster in Libya. He said the U.S. would have a “major black eye” if it didn’t take out Moammar Gadhafi, the autocratic leader. In a February 2011 video captured on BuzzFeed not long before the U.S. and NATO stepped in, he said, “Gadhafi in Libya is killing thousands of people, nobody knows how bad it is. “And we’re sitting around, we have soldiers all over the Middle East, and we’re not bringing them in to stop this horrible carnage. And that’s what it is. … We should go in, we should stop this guy, which would be very easy and very quick, we could do it surgically. … This is absolutely nuts, we don’t want to get involved.” True to his business principles, Trump proposed sending Libya’s successor government a bill for the U.S. intervention: “From your oil, we want reimbursement.” — CRUZ: “The Obama-Clinton economy has done enormous damage to the Hispanic community.” THE FACTS: The bursting of the housing bubble in late 2007 is what really damaged the Hispanic community, before Barack Obama took office. Under Obama, Hispanics have made strides from the depths of the Great Recession. Their unemployment rate is 5.9 percent. The rate is above the national average of 4.9 percent, but it’s well below the 2009 peak of 13 percent. Hispanics have gained 5 million jobs under Obama, a 25 percent increase since 2009. Under George W. Bush, there was a 21 percent growth of 3.45 million jobs. But there is one key area where Hispanics are struggling to recover: Median income for that group was $28,757 in 2014, about $1,644 less than in 2007 after adjusting for inflation. Cruz exaggerates when calling it the Obama-Clinton economy. Hillary Clinton was his secretary of state with little or no influence on his economic policy. — MARCO RUBIO: “It is a health care law that is basically forcing companies to lay people off, cut people’s hours, move people to part-time. It is not just a bad health care law, it is a job-killing law.” THE FACTS: The claim that Obama’s health care law is a job-killer is hard to square with the fact that the economy has added more than 13.4 million jobs since the law took effect. The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.9 percent from 9.9 percent since Obama signed the act. Nor is there evidence that workers are being moved en masse to part-time hours. The number of part-time workers has actually fallen slightly since the health care law was passed: There were 27.6 million part-timers working in March 2010, and there are 26.3 million now. To be sure, about 6 million of those with part-time jobs would prefer full-time work but have been unable to find it. That figure has declined steadily from 9 million since the Great Recession ended in June 2009, though it is still high. The persistence of “involuntary” part-time employment has led many economists to worry that it could be a long-term problem, but they disagree on whether the health care overhaul is the root cause of that. — TRUMP on coarse language used by former Mexican President Vicente Fox over Trump’s proposal to make Mexico pay for a fortress-like wall along the border: “I saw him use the word that he used. I can only tell you, if I would have used even half of that word, it would have been national scandal. This guy used a filthy, disgusting word on television, and he should be ashamed of himself, and he should apologize, OK?” THE FACTS: At issue, it must be said, is the F-bomb. Fox dropped it when denouncing Trump’s plans for the wall. Trump, meantime, has run a profanity-laced campaign, blurted out the S-word on multiple occasions and used an offensive term for coward against rival Ted Cruz. But what about THAT bomb? At a rally in New Hampshire, he declared: “We’re not going to let Mexico steal all our businesses. … We’re going to bring business back. … And you can tell them to go” – pausing – “themselves because they let you down, and they left.” He didn’t say the word. He mouthed it. And Trump used the word loudly and several times in a 2011 Nevada speech before he was a candidate. — RUBIO: Repeats a flawed claim to have wiped out an insurance “bailout” in President Barack Obama’s health care law. “When they passed Obamacare they put a bailout fund in Obamacare … we led the effort and wiped out that bailout fund.” THE FACTS: Rubio was a vocal opponent of the “bailout.” But Republicans weren’t able to wipe it out – just to limit it. And other GOP lawmakers say Rubio did not engineer the maneuver. At issue is a part of the health care law called “risk corridors,” intended to compensate insurers that signed up sicker-than-expected patients under the health care law, incurring high costs. The government could pay just 13 percent of risk-corridor claims last year because of lower-than-expected fees paid by insurers who were doing well financially. Congressional Republicans barred the administration from using taxpayer
Hillary Clinton targeted in ad from group tied to Koch brothers
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday makes her first appearance in a negative advertisement funded by the wealthy Republican donors tied to billionaires Charles and David Koch. A 30-second ad aimed at Internet users in South Carolina and Florida shows headlines about the number of veterans who have died while awaiting health care. Then it shows a recent MSNBC interview with Clinton, who said of problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, “It’s not been widespread as it has been made out to be.” “Not widespread?” text in the ad says. “Our veterans deserve better.” The digital ad, backed by at least $100,000 from Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit group that does not identify its donors, is timed to run as Clinton participates in a Democratic candidate forum in South Carolina. Clinton is “completely out of touch” with VA issues, which are “inarguably widespread,” Dan Caldwell, a spokesman for Concerned Veterans for America, told The Associated Press on Thursday. After Republicans criticized her remarks in the MSNBC interview, Clinton’s campaign said she was “outraged” by VA delays in providing care. Concerned Veterans for America is one of a half-dozen political and policy groups funded by the Kochs and hundreds of like-minded donors. That network is poised to spend a generous portion of at least $750 million over this year and next on issues relevant to the presidential race. The ad marks the first major paid media effort by a Koch group to ding Clinton’s 2016 candidacy. As she gains steam in a three-candidate Democratic primary, while the Republican nominating process is far from settled, GOP groups are beginning their Clinton attack efforts. The veterans ad follows a television commercial a week ago by a political group called Future 45. That ad focused on Clinton’s work as secretary of state, particularly in Libya, concluding with a narrator saying: “Responsible for a disaster. More threats. More war.” Although the group spent only about $65,000 airing the spot a few times, according to Kantar Media’s CMAG ad tracker, there are signs that more Clinton attacks are on the way. On Monday at a New York fundraiser for Republican opposition group America Rising, headlined by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, donors were encouraged to support Future 45, an attendee told the AP. The attendee was not authorized to share details from the private event and requested anonymity. Republican hedge-fund billionaires Paul Singer of New York and Kenneth Griffin of Chicago are among those who have already written six-figure checks to Future 45, a fundraising report filed in July shows. The group’s name references the 45th president, who will be elected next November. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Hillary Clinton slams Benghazi committee in TV interview, ad
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday lashed out at the special House committee investigating the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, calling it a partisan political exercise designed to “exploit” the deaths of four Americans. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s recent comments that the Benghazi panel can take credit for her diminished public standing prove Republicans are going after her for political reasons, Clinton said in a televised interview. The Democratic presidential front-runner told NBC’s “Today” show that if she were president, she would have “done everything” in her power to shut down such a partisan investigation. “Look at the situation they chose to exploit, to go after me for political reasons: the death of four Americans in Benghazi,” Clinton said in an interview before a town hall appearance in New Hampshire. “This committee was set up, as they have admitted, for the purpose of making a partisan, political issue out of the deaths of four Americans.” Clinton was secretary of state during the 2012 attacks. She stopped short of calling for the Benghazi panel to be disbanded, as some Democrats have urged. “That’s up to the Congress,” she said, adding that she was looking forward to testifying before the Benghazi panel on Oct. 22 “to explain everything we’ve done, everything that I asked to happen.” Laying the groundwork for the testimony, Clinton’s campaign released a new 30-second ad that says the Republicans “finally admit it” and points to McCarthy’s remarks. “The Republicans have spent millions attacking Hillary because she’s fighting for everything they oppose,” the ad says. Emily Schillinger, a spokeswoman for House Speaker John Boehner, called the ad “a classic Clinton attempt to distract from her record of putting classified information at risk and jeopardizing our national security.” Clinton’s comments came as Democrats on the Benghazi panel released a partial transcript of a closed-door interview with Clinton’s former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, in response to what they called selective and inaccurate Republican leaks. Release of the transcript is “the only way to adequately correct the public record,” the Democrats said in a letter to the panel’s chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. They said they would release the full transcript in five days, in order to give Gowdy time to identify any specific information in the transcript he believes should be withheld from the American people. A spokesman for Gowdy said the committee has not released transcripts from witness interviews in order to “gather all facts” and avoid tainting the recollections of future witnesses. “By selectively leaking” parts of the transcript from Mills’ daylong interview last month, “Democrats have shown their nakedly political motivation, willingness to violate the letter and spirit of House rules and their desire to defend Secretary Clinton without regard for the integrity of the investigation,” Gowdy’s spokesman, Jamal Ware, said. House Democrats said Mills refuted several GOP allegations about the Benghazi attacks, which killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Democrats released comments by Mills in which she rejected a claim that Clinton issued a “stand-down” order blocking U.S. troops from rescuing those trapped at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The supposed stand-down order has been widely debunked. Clinton “said we need to be taking whatever steps we can, to do whatever we can to secure our people,” Mills said, according to a partial transcript released by Democrats. Clinton was “very concerned” on the night of the attacks and “worried about our team on the ground in Benghazi” and State Department personnel throughout Libya, Mills said. McCarthy, R-Calif., who is considered likely to become House speaker following Boehner’s surprise resignation, said last week: “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.” McCarthy called Clinton “untrustable” and said, “No one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.” McCarthy later retracted the comment and said he regrets it. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the Benghazi panel, called it “shameful” that Republicans have “used the tragedy … for political gain.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama congressional delegation largely supportive of Benghazi Select Committee
In the wake of recent news that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has agreed to testify before a U.S. House Select Committee investigating the 2012 attacks on an American compound in Benghazi, some Republican members of Congress are licking their chops at the prospect of getting a good crack at the 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner over an issue that remains on the front burner for conservatives. Among them is U.S. Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama’s Wiregrass and Montgomery-based 2nd Congressional District. Roby is one of seven Republican members chosen for the committee. “It doesn’t surprise me that the Clinton lawyers want to limit her testimony,” Roby told Alabama Today on Tuesday, responding to corollary news that Clinton has refused to testify twice as requested by the committee, conceding to only one hotly anticipated appearance. “But, remember, it was her decision, not ours, to set up a secret email system in a calculated attempt to flout government transparency requirements. And there are many legitimate questions that remain unanswered.” She expressed her enthusiasm that South Carolina U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy — who has been vocal in his criticisms of Clinton over Benghazi — may get to oversee a panel devoted to extracting answers from the former New York senator in light of her use of a private email address while serving on President Barack Obama‘s Cabinet. “I know that Chairman Gowdy is taking this offer into consideration and we will see what happens going forward. Chairman Gowdy has been a deliberate, effective leader of this Select Committee and we are behind him 100 percent,” Roby said. U.S. Reps. Bradley Byrne, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt and Mo Brooks — Republicans all — each voted “yea” and co-sponsored the federal legislation that created the committee. Democrat Terri Sewell, for her part, voted against it. Rep. Gary Palmer wasn’t yet elected when the House created the Select Committee. He did tell Birmingham talk radio host Matt Murphy in March he thinks “we should subpoena the server and see what’s on it.” Palmer also told the Birmingham Morning News, “I have zero confidence that this Justice Department will do anything under Obama [concerning Clinton’s emails].”
Hillary Clinton agrees to testify on Benghazi, emails this month
Hillary Rodham Clinton is willing to testify once on Capitol Hill this month about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and her email practices during her tenure as secretary of state, her attorney told lawmakers in a letter Monday. Lawyer David Kendall said the Democratic presidential candidate will appear for only one session the week of May 18 or later, not twice as requested by Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican and chairman of the special panel investigating the September 2012 attacks that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, at the U.S. outpost in Libya. Gowdy had requested one hearing to focus on Clinton’s use of private emails, and a separate session on Benghazi. Kendall said Clinton would answer all lawmakers’ questions during one session and it would not be necessary for her to appear twice. “Respectfully, there is no basis, logic or precedent for such an unusual request,” Kendall wrote. “The secretary is fully prepared to stay for the duration of the committee’s questions on the day she appears.” Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel, released Kendall’s letter along with a statement saying the lawyer’s offer should more than satisfy the GOP’s demands. “Chairman Gowdy should take ‘yes’ for an answer and finally schedule the hearing,” Cummings wrote. “Dragging out this process further into the presidential election season sacrifices any chance that the American people will see it as serious or legitimate.” Spokesman Jamal Ware said Gowdy will consider her response and issue a statement later “regarding the path forward” for Clinton’s testimony. Clinton previously testified on Capitol Hill over the attacks in January 2013, when she was still secretary of state. She told lawmakers then that she takes responsibility for missteps by the State Department in the months leading up to the assault. But Clinton insisted that requests for more security at the diplomatic mission in Benghazi didn’t reach her desk, and reminded lawmakers that they have a responsibility to fund security-related budget requests. Republicans say they have more questions, especially in light of recent revelations that she used a private email account while secretary of state and decided which emails to retain and turn over to the government. Gowdy’s letter last month seeking two appearances included more than 100 questions he and other lawmakers may pose to Clinton about her email use, including why she considered using a private server and what was done to vet the companies or individuals who set up the server. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
