The New York Times reports on the disappointing sales of Hillary Clinton’s most recent memoir, Hard Choices. The book is currently ranked 108th on Amazon’s best-seller list, behind Ben Carson’s memoir One Nation (#75), and Potty (#45), a popular toilet training book for children.
Even more embarrassing, as the Times notes, is the fact that Hillary’s book is being outsold by Blood Feud, Edward Klein’s groundbreaking exposé on the testy relationship between the Clintons and the Obamas. Klein's book is currently ranked 12th on the Amazon best-seller list.
On the bright side, Hard Choices continues to be the top selling book in Amazon’s "gender studies" category.
Some liberals have questioned the reliability of Klein's sources, such as the "Obama administration source" who praised Elizabeth Warren as a "committed progressive who, like Obama, wants to transform America into a European-style democratic-socialist state." However, Klein has stood by his work.
"I don’t make this stuff up," Mr. Klein told the Times. "The quotes come from sources who were present when the statements were made or who were told about the statements shortly after they were made."
Hillary spokesman Nick Merrill fired back: "Let’s strap Ed Klein to a polygraph machine and let the needle do the talking." As the New Yorker's Lauren Collins pointed out, this was a rather peculiar suggestion.
Odd moment for polygraph zinger, when Hillary's just said that rape case "forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs." http://t.co/1VEc22pxVC
— Lauren Collins (@laurenzcollins) July 11, 2014
Collins was referencing the previously unpublished audio recordings uncovered by the Free Beacon, in which a young Hillary Clinton's discusses her successful defense of a child rapist. Clinton joked that her faith in polygraphs was "forever destroyed" because her client, whom she knew to be guilty, had professed his innocence during a polygraph test and passed anyway.
CNN legal analyst Paul Callan has argued that Clinton violated attorney-client privilege by discussing the polygraph results and by appearing to out her client as guilty.
By framing the story in this way, Clinton violated not only the attorney-client privilege but also her obligation to fully represent the interests of her client as required by the attorney's "Code of Professional Responsibility."
It is utterly improper for a defense attorney to reveal a client confidence in this way. As a veteran teller of legal "war stories," my advice to Clinton is if you are going to tell one, leave out the child rapist case.
On the other hand, the case was a dramatic victory for Clinton and the child rapist she defended. After successfully attacking the credibility of the 12-year-old victim, Clinton ultimately won a plea bargain for her client, who was sentenced to one year in prison (minus two months for time served).
