It seems like yesterday...
Hillary Apologized for Convention Spitters
Politics/Elections News
Source: NewsMax.com
Published: 6/02/00 Author: Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff
First Lady Hillary Clinton has apologized to two Albany officials for delegates who spit on an Albany police honor guard at the May 16th convention that nominated her for U.S. Senate, NewsMax.com has learned.
The first lady's previously unreported apologies were revealed by Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings in a Thursday interview.
On Saturday The New York Times quoted Clinton spokesperson Karen Dunn, who said that Mrs. Clinton called Mayor Jennings on May 19th to say she was "appalled by what was reported" about the spitting attacks. But the Times made no mention of any Clinton apology and quoted one official who said that "no apologies are necessary."
Mayor Jennings told NewsMax.com, however, that Mrs. Clinton did indeed apologize for the ugly incident during her phone call.
"She called me at home," said Jennings. "She was appalled. She expressed serious concern and she did apologize, yes."
The mayor said he told Mrs. Clinton, "Well, our police are certainly criticized when they do something wrong. They handled this situation as seasoned professionals and did not react and continued on with their mission. People should recognize that as well."
Mrs. Clinton's call to Jennings came one day after Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson demanded that Mrs. Clinton issue the apology.
"At an event that was for all intents and purposes Hillary Clinton's nomination party, she owes the Albany Police and police officers around the state an immediate apology," Nicholson said in an RNC press release.
The mayor revealed that Mrs. Clinton also wrote a letter of apology to Albany Police Chief John Neilsen. NewsMax.com has a request for a copy of the letter pending with Neilsen's office.
Chief Neilsen told the Times on Saturday that "no apologies are necessary" from the state Democratic leadership, though by that time he had received a letter of apology from state Democratic Chairwoman Judith Hope.
Mayor Jennings said he gave directions to Chief Neilsen to try to identify who was involved in the spitting attack. But that would be "very difficult to do," he added.
In her letter to Chief Neilsen, a copy of which was obtained by NewsMax.com on Tuesday, Hope wrote, "we will make every effort to identify those involved in the incident."
Asked whether Mrs. Clinton made a similar pledge to investigate, Mayor Jennings said, "I told Hillary that I didn't think it was appropriate for her to undertake any investigation. I mean, that's up to us."
"We'll deal with this locally," the mayor added. "It shouldn't be a national issue or a statewide issue."
Albany's City Hall is a traditional bastion of Democratic politics, noted the Times in its Saturday report.
Why the secrecy about Mrs. Clinton's now two week old apologies? Perhaps her campaign didn't want to attract attention to the original delegate-spitting reports, a story which most of the press has ignored.
The first lady's Manhattan campaign headquarters has failed to return repeated calls about the convention spitting episode.