Posted on 04/26/2005 9:50:21 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
On 18 July, 1969, Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick. He escaped, but left Mary Jo Kopechne to suffocate in the submerged car. That ended his chances of ever being President. Now Hillary Clinton has experienced an event with a similar political result.
On 15 October, 2000, Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senatorial Campaign filed a report with the Federal Election Campaign that included falsified cost statements (about $750,000 low) for her Hollywood Gala on 12 August. Her National Finance Director, David Rosen, has just been indicted on four felony counts for that and related filings. Those events will sink her chances of being President as thoroughly as the killing of Mary Jo Kopechne sank Ted Kennedy’s chances.
For a detailed analysis of Ted Kennedy’s actions, see the February, 1980, issue of Readers Digest. This went to about 50 million American households, where it was placed on the back of the toilet for leisurely reading. (A literary description of this is Leopold Bloom’s newspaper reading in Ulysses by James Joyce.)
The press accounts of Chappaquiddick plus Kennedy’s gross incompetence in a legendary interview with Roger Mudd prevented Kennedy from taking the 1980 presidential nomination away from the damaged incumbent, Jimmy Carter. The Readers Digest version slammed the presidential door against Kennedy forever.
Hillary Clinton has already said Mr. Rosen will be found not guilty “when all the facts come out.” Not so. The facts include tape recordings of Mr. Rosen admitting illegal conduct to Raymond Reggie, (ironically Ted Kennedy’s brother-in-law), plus copies of campaign documents. They show the Clinton Campaign kept two sets of books – an accurate internal set and a false set for the FEC.
Mr. Rosen will be found guilty when all the facts come out, unless there is a gross miscarriage of justice as with John DeLorean and O.J. Simpson. But his trial is almost irrelevant. The facts alone will do the damage.
The Readers Digest may not do the permanent damage now. Every tabloid in America has sent reporters out with ample funds to loosen tongues and ferret out documents. This will be a hot story on the Internet. The facts may come out even before the trial. The original trial date of 3 May will certainly be pushed back by aggressive lawyering by Rosen’s counsel.
And who is his counsel? The first lawyer to comment on the case was the ever-present Clinton mouthpiece (excuse me, lawyer), David Kendall. Another lawyer has appeared as Rosen’s counsel, but if Kendall is involved at all, there would seem to be a conflict of interest. Kendall’s life’s work is to protect Clinton (him and her) from felonious consequences of their acts. Rosen’s interest right now is to avoid a stretch in stir. Rolling over on Hillary and turning state’s evidence is his best way of saving his neck.
So Mr. Rosen’s legal interests seem quite different from hers. If Kendall were involved, that would suggest Rosen will deny, deny, deny, rather than sing like a canary. However, with tape-recorded conversations and internal documents available, the only consequence of keeping Rosen on the reservation is to protect Clinton from felony charges herself. It will not protect her from the political consequences.
Keep in mind that all politicians – liberal conservative, Republican, Democrat, men, women, smart or dumb – necessarily follow two details of their campaigns: money in, and money out. Unless Clinton is either the dumbest member of the Senate, or the most careless, she would not have a million-dollar gap in knowledge of her own campaign finances. One witness has already claimed discussing financial details of this Gala with Clinton personally.
The bottom line is this: Hillary Clinton cheated her way into the Senate in 2000. Knowing that, the American people will not let her back into the White House. Like Ted Kennedy, she will probably be barred from the Democratic nomination. If nominated, she will not win.
There is another parallel between Ted Kennedy then and Hillary Clinton now. Kennedy was never charged with or tried for manslaughter. Clinton will probably not be charged and tried for election felonies. Though the facts came out, Kennedy still remains Senator for life from Massachusetts as long as he can draw breath and pour Scotch. It is likely that the facts of this case will not knock Clinton out of her Senate seat. (Though for the sake of New York and the nation, I hope I’m wrong about that.)
She may remain a Senator, but Hillary Clinton’s campaign for President in 2008 – or ever – is now over.
About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
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