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Clinton on Due Process for Men Accused of Sexual Misconduct: You Have to Take Situations 'on Their Own Merits'

September 18, 2018

Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, Dr. Christine Ford, deserves due process but when referencing allegations against her husband said "you have to take each of these situations sort of on their own merits."

"There should be due process for everyone involved, and I think that's what Dr. Ford is asking for. She is asking for due process," Clinton told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.

"Your husband when he was president faced allegations that were not the same as this, certainly, but had connections to these kinds of old allegations from years ago," Maddow began.

Kavanaugh, a nominee for the Supreme Court, is facing allegations of attempted sexual assault from high school. Ford said Kavanaugh drunkenly held her down, groped her, and attempted to cover her mouth to muffle her screams at a party in the early 1980s.

President Bill Clinton has been accused of rape while attorney general of Arkansas by Juanita Broaddrick, and he's faced charges of sexual misconduct by at least two other women.

"I know you had concerns at the time. Your husband certainly had concerns at the time that he never really had due process to defend himself from allegations like this. Have we learned anything over the years about due process not just for the accusers but also for the accused?" Maddow asked.

Clinton responded, "I think that you have to take each of these situations sort of on their own merits, and what we have today is a process that has been rushed, that has been deliberately opaque where information that the Congress, not just Democratic senators, but all senators and the public deserve to see that they were denied."

"There can't be one set of rules for Republicans and one set for Democrats," Clinton told Maddow earlier in her interview.

Clinton also insinuated that Ford might change her mind after an investigation into her claims is done.

"You know, at the end of the investigation," Clinton said, "she might very well decide not to pursue her willingness to testify. She might say, well, you know, there's no way to ever prove it. Who knows what she might decide?"