Hillary Clinton flack Karen Finney said Friday on CNN that people do not really know Hillary Clinton, even if they think they do.
"I’ve known Hillary Clinton for almost 25 years. I’ve worked for her for a very long time," Finney said. "You know, she is one of the most unknown well-known people."
Finney’s claim is not supported by the facts. Clinton has tons of name recognition because she has been in the public eye for decades. Her spouse is pretty famous too.
The Clinton campaign, however, is pushing this message because Clinton is about to re-do her announcement in an effort to have everyone forget the past two months ever happened.
Struggling to find a rationale for her candidacy, Clinton is now reaching back to her mother’s tough upbringing as the motivator for her climb in public service. It is part of the rebranding the Clinton camp hopes will help her shake off the dishonest reputation she has earned amid months of scandals.
One problem, Americans know A LOT about the Clintons.
Americans know the Clintons were part of a shady real estate firm in Arkansas called Whitewater Development Corporation. The firm was used to illegally accept campaign contributions, gifts, possible bribes, and avoid taxes. Many people went to jail for this one, but not the Clintons.
Americans know Clinton was allowed to buy 10 cattle future contracts worth $12,000 with only $1,000 in her account at the time. She made $6,300 overnight and $100,000 in just ten months thanks to insider information from traders James B. Blair and Robert L. "Red" Bone. Bone was suspended for three years and paid a hefty fine, but Clinton got to keep her improperly acquired money.
Americans know Clinton pushed out a lie that the Benghazi attack was a result of protests to a YouTube video, and not a planned attack on the U.S. embassy. Clinton received much of this bad information from her friend Sidney Blumenthal whom Clinton calls an "old friend." One problem: the White House forbade Blumenthal from being hired yet Clinton went behind Obama’s back, had the Clinton Foundation hire him, and forwarded his memos about Libya to other government officials, all while he was conducting business in the country for personal gain. Blumenthal will testify before a congressional committee next week.
Americans know Clinton broke Federal Records Act by conducting all of her official government business on a private email account. That’s not all though. Clinton set up her own private email server to avoid FOIA requests and then deleted all of her emails, a bizarre move for someone who claims not to be hiding anything. She is currently under congressional investigation.
Americans know the Clinton Foundation accepted donations from nations with serious human rights violations while Clinton was secretary of state. They also accepted money from foreign companies that Clinton later helped acquire very rich deals in an apparent quid-pro-quo exchange.
Americans know that the Clintons gave paid speeches that helped them amass well over a $100 million fortune even though Hillary claimed to be "dead broke." Companies that had a tremendous amount of business in front of the State Department and federal government more generally filled the Clintons’ pockets. Bill Clinton says he will quit the controversial practice only if Hillary becomes president.
Finney said Clinton is the least known well-known person. Americans know that is not true. Still, watching Clinton try to re-introduce herself to the American people this Saturday should be pretty entertaining.