WEBVTT - Benghazi: Episode 5 - Greatest Hits 0:00:16.271 --> 0:00:32.871 Pushkin previously on fiasco. A number of conservative media outlets 0:00:33.111 --> 0:00:34.631 were particularly genda. 0:00:34.791 --> 0:00:36.671 This is a political cover up of some kind of 0:00:36.831 --> 0:00:40.191 intelligence officials acknowledged they originally got it wrong. 0:00:40.471 --> 0:00:45.551 I know the Ghazi Annex chief personally, and he's a 0:00:45.591 --> 0:00:46.391 decent man. 0:00:46.591 --> 0:00:49.870 The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Benghazi kicks off at 0:00:49.911 --> 0:00:50.791 the top of the hour. 0:00:50.951 --> 0:00:53.711 Hillary Clinton's painted apparently hit her head and had that concussion. 0:00:53.791 --> 0:00:56.871 I bet that we might never hear her testimony. She 0:00:56.871 --> 0:00:57.951 doesn't want to answer the question. 0:01:01.831 --> 0:01:05.431 When Alison Camarada was an anchor on Fox News, she 0:01:05.551 --> 0:01:07.431 talked about Benghazi a lot. 0:01:07.351 --> 0:01:10.950 For what's been called Benghazi Gate. There was a lack 0:01:10.991 --> 0:01:13.591 of security at the US consulate in Benghazi, but who 0:01:13.631 --> 0:01:16.031 is to blame for not beefing it up? Was the 0:01:16.071 --> 0:01:18.671 administration just clueless or was there a cover up? 0:01:18.791 --> 0:01:21.551 Joining us among other things, it was just a good, 0:01:21.751 --> 0:01:25.431 rich story with a seemingly endless stream of angles to explore. 0:01:26.591 --> 0:01:30.551 There were some mysteries embedded in Benghazi that needed to 0:01:30.551 --> 0:01:33.071 be answered, so that gave it legs for sure. 0:01:33.631 --> 0:01:34.871 There were four dead. 0:01:34.711 --> 0:01:40.791 Americans and that is obviously something that resonated with our viewers, 0:01:40.991 --> 0:01:43.631 and they wanted justice, and we could beat the drum 0:01:43.671 --> 0:01:44.471 of justice. 0:01:45.231 --> 0:01:48.031 At the time, Camarada was one of the co hosts 0:01:48.071 --> 0:01:50.991 of Fox and Friends Weekend. She ended up leaving the 0:01:51.031 --> 0:01:54.111 network in twenty fourteen, and she's been public with her 0:01:54.151 --> 0:01:57.511 criticisms of Fox News in the years since. But during 0:01:57.551 --> 0:02:01.471 the months after the Benghazi attack, Camarada spent her weekend 0:02:01.471 --> 0:02:05.831 mornings dutifully beating the drums of justice alongside her Fox colleagues. 0:02:06.071 --> 0:02:09.391 That Chris Stevens was saying, we're under attack, We're under attack, 0:02:09.511 --> 0:02:13.631 please help, And of course nothing was done to help them. 0:02:14.431 --> 0:02:17.711 Four Americans dead, and we need justice for this, so 0:02:17.911 --> 0:02:18.431 on wins. 0:02:18.511 --> 0:02:22.631 According to Camarata, Fox's relentless emphasis on ben Ghazi came 0:02:22.671 --> 0:02:26.391 directly from the network's founder and chief executive, Roger Ales. 0:02:27.231 --> 0:02:29.911 Sometimes at Fox, Roger got to be in his bonnet 0:02:30.071 --> 0:02:33.591 over certain stories, and we would do them time and 0:02:33.631 --> 0:02:36.990 again and again and again. Ben Gazzi's right at the 0:02:36.991 --> 0:02:39.431 top of that list. I don't know that it was 0:02:39.991 --> 0:02:43.671 some grand strategy from the get go, but I just 0:02:43.751 --> 0:02:48.711 think that he did naturally lean towards outrage. 0:02:48.991 --> 0:02:52.991 Ales didn't personally dictate Fox's coverage at all times, but 0:02:53.031 --> 0:02:56.151 he didn't need to because his producers knew what he wanted. 0:02:56.511 --> 0:02:59.831 By the time you became an executive producer at Fox, 0:03:00.671 --> 0:03:05.071 you could channel Roger. It wasn't hard Obama, bad Muslims, 0:03:05.111 --> 0:03:09.951 bad Hillary, bad Republicans, good Democrats, crazy like it wasn't 0:03:10.111 --> 0:03:10.751 rocket science. 0:03:11.231 --> 0:03:15.191 Before he created Fox News in nineteen ninety six, Ayles 0:03:15.271 --> 0:03:19.151 spent decades in conservative politics, serving as a campaign advisor 0:03:19.231 --> 0:03:24.311 to Richard Nixon, Mitch McConnell, and George H. W. Bush. Later, 0:03:24.551 --> 0:03:27.071 he was the executive producer of a short lived TV 0:03:27.191 --> 0:03:31.831 talk show starring Rush limbar Ardys and gentleman Best Rush 0:03:32.431 --> 0:03:37.991 bar From the beginning, Ayle's positioned Fox News as a 0:03:38.031 --> 0:03:41.991 counterbalance to what he called the communist broadcasting system CBS 0:03:42.311 --> 0:03:44.231 and the Clinton News Network CNN. 0:03:44.391 --> 0:03:47.951 Fox News channel fair and balanced, where news is going, 0:03:48.111 --> 0:03:49.191 where news should be. 0:03:50.031 --> 0:03:53.311 But in its early days, Fox's conservative opinion shows like 0:03:53.351 --> 0:03:55.911 The O'Reilly Factor were kept at arm's length from its 0:03:55.951 --> 0:03:56.551 news division. 0:03:56.711 --> 0:03:59.871 Few broadcasts take any chances these days, and most are 0:03:59.991 --> 0:04:04.071 very politically correct. Well, We're going to try to be different, 0:04:04.151 --> 0:04:05.751 stimulating and a bit daring. 0:04:06.591 --> 0:04:09.591 It was only gradually that Fox's identity as a platform 0:04:09.631 --> 0:04:12.991 for the right became more holistic By the time the 0:04:12.991 --> 0:04:17.871 Bengazi attack happened, the network was producing a mix of commentary, activism, 0:04:17.991 --> 0:04:24.871 and propaganda. 0:04:26.031 --> 0:04:27.271 Welcome into Fox and Friends. 0:04:27.511 --> 0:04:31.031 Fox and Friends Weekend, where Camarato worked, aired every Saturday 0:04:31.071 --> 0:04:33.071 and Sunday from six to ten am. 0:04:33.431 --> 0:04:37.190 Well, I always saw Fox and Friends' Weekend as quite 0:04:37.231 --> 0:04:42.271 of a morning zoo of political talk. I mean, I 0:04:42.351 --> 0:04:46.391 sometimes called it talk radio in a skirt. I mean, 0:04:46.591 --> 0:04:49.471 it was a variety show. It was mixing in the 0:04:50.671 --> 0:04:55.831 really incendiary political stuff, but not for too long. We 0:04:55.911 --> 0:05:00.951 would immediately in a toss, turn to and coming up 0:05:01.391 --> 0:05:05.711 breaking news. Subway sandwiches. Foot long subs are only eleven 0:05:05.831 --> 0:05:07.270 and a half inches long. 0:05:07.791 --> 0:05:12.231 Subway sandwiches foot long subs are only eleven and a 0:05:12.311 --> 0:05:13.991 half inches long. 0:05:14.991 --> 0:05:17.871 I know, everyone, I fill your outage. 0:05:18.111 --> 0:05:21.351 There's gonna be Camarata says that despite being an anchor, 0:05:21.631 --> 0:05:24.551 she didn't have much control over the actual content of 0:05:24.591 --> 0:05:28.071 Fox and Friends. Because it aired so early in the morning, 0:05:28.511 --> 0:05:31.231 a small team of producers would always work overnight to 0:05:31.271 --> 0:05:32.431 build the next day's show. 0:05:33.631 --> 0:05:36.351 By the time I got in, there was already a rundown. 0:05:36.471 --> 0:05:39.711 It was a built show. When I came in, I 0:05:39.751 --> 0:05:41.111 was busy. You know, I was going and I was 0:05:41.151 --> 0:05:44.071 getting into my outfit. I was getting into hair and makeup, 0:05:44.351 --> 0:05:49.751 and then I had like probably from five fifteen till 0:05:50.431 --> 0:05:52.431 I had to run to the set at five point 0:05:52.431 --> 0:05:56.111 fifty to get miked up to dive in and study. 0:05:56.191 --> 0:05:59.351 You know, that's not enough time. It just wasn't built 0:05:59.831 --> 0:06:04.671 to ever do real research. It was basically headlines, talking points, 0:06:04.711 --> 0:06:06.511 and you know, mixing it up. 0:06:07.551 --> 0:06:11.591 In January of twenty Thirteenillary Clinton was set to testify 0:06:11.671 --> 0:06:16.151 before Congress about Benghazi for the first time. As it happened, 0:06:16.191 --> 0:06:18.991 she was planning to leave the Obama administration about a 0:06:18.991 --> 0:06:22.671 week later, which meant that her Benghazi testimony would be 0:06:22.751 --> 0:06:25.710 one of her last public appearances as Secretary of State. 0:06:26.191 --> 0:06:28.391 While the White House preparing today for Secretary of State 0:06:28.471 --> 0:06:32.431 Hillary Clinton to testify tomorrow regarding the deadly September eleventh 0:06:32.431 --> 0:06:35.311 attack on our consulate in Libya, Secretary. 0:06:34.911 --> 0:06:36.791 Clinton was there was there a lot of anticipation for 0:06:36.831 --> 0:06:37.671 her appearance? 0:06:38.311 --> 0:06:42.031 Oh god, yes, I mean part of the Fox model 0:06:42.631 --> 0:06:45.631 is just constant build up. It's teasing. 0:06:45.791 --> 0:06:48.991 Republicans are expected to grill her about what she knew 0:06:49.031 --> 0:06:51.431 about the attack and when she knew it. Some have 0:06:51.591 --> 0:06:54.471 charged that the administration deliberately tried to hide that the 0:06:54.511 --> 0:06:57.551 ambush was the work of terrorists linked to al Qaeda. 0:06:57.711 --> 0:07:01.671 It's teasing what's going to happen tomorrow. It's teasing what's 0:07:01.671 --> 0:07:05.031 going to happen this week in front of committee. It's 0:07:05.071 --> 0:07:10.951 teasing Hillary Clinton's appearance. And that's not new what. 0:07:11.111 --> 0:07:12.631 She knew when she knew it. 0:07:12.711 --> 0:07:14.311 Is this going to get answered today? 0:07:14.511 --> 0:07:16.271 She has had time to prepare, but she has an 0:07:16.271 --> 0:07:17.391 awful lot to answer for. 0:07:17.591 --> 0:07:20.191 She's one of the top candidates for president in twenty sixteen, 0:07:20.391 --> 0:07:22.831 so she can either help move on or she could 0:07:22.871 --> 0:07:24.791 have a Susan roy Sunday Show moment. 0:07:24.551 --> 0:07:24.751 And not. 0:07:28.951 --> 0:07:31.911 The committee will come to order. Clinton appeared in front 0:07:31.951 --> 0:07:34.111 of both the Senate and the House back to back. 0:07:35.151 --> 0:07:37.671 She started her day shortly after nine am with a 0:07:37.671 --> 0:07:41.031 prepared statement in which she took responsibility for making changes 0:07:41.031 --> 0:07:43.351 of the State Department to prevent another tragedy. 0:07:43.511 --> 0:07:43.991 As I have. 0:07:43.991 --> 0:07:47.911 Said many times, I take responsibility, and nobody is more 0:07:47.951 --> 0:07:49.751 committed to getting this right. 0:07:50.191 --> 0:07:53.231 For the most part, Clinton's questioners were fairly cordial. 0:07:53.511 --> 0:07:57.191 Thank you, Adam, Secretary, and wonderful to see you in 0:07:57.231 --> 0:08:00.071 good health, and as combative as ever. 0:08:01.431 --> 0:08:03.911 There were two points that kept coming up over and 0:08:03.951 --> 0:08:07.511 over again, and they generated the most intense moments of 0:08:07.551 --> 0:08:10.031 the day. The first had to do with a case 0:08:10.071 --> 0:08:13.311 cable sent to the State Department with Ambassador Stevens's approval 0:08:13.391 --> 0:08:17.071 about a month before the attack. The cable had warned 0:08:17.071 --> 0:08:20.311 about an increase in violent incidents in Benghazi and the 0:08:20.431 --> 0:08:25.071 rise of anti American militias. Republicans wanted to know why 0:08:25.111 --> 0:08:28.231 Clinton hadn't personally reviewed the cable and weighed in that 0:08:28.711 --> 0:08:31.431 had I been president at the time and I found 0:08:31.511 --> 0:08:34.191 that you did not read the cables from Benghazi, you 0:08:34.231 --> 0:08:36.671 did not read the cables from bessaror Stevens, I would 0:08:36.711 --> 0:08:37.871 have relieved you of your post. 0:08:38.071 --> 0:08:39.430 I think it's inexcusable. 0:08:39.951 --> 0:08:40.550 The thing is. 0:08:40.751 --> 0:08:43.590 The second point of focus was on the Obama administration's 0:08:43.590 --> 0:08:47.271 original explanation of the Bengazi attack as a protest gone wrong. 0:08:47.991 --> 0:08:51.391 A Republican senator from Wisconsin wanted to know why Clinton 0:08:51.471 --> 0:08:54.511 hadn't immediately called the survivors of the attack to find 0:08:54.550 --> 0:08:57.030 out whether or not there really had been a protest 0:08:57.030 --> 0:08:57.351 that night. 0:08:57.471 --> 0:09:00.391 We were misled that there was supposedly protests, and then something 0:09:00.511 --> 0:09:03.391 sprang out of that, and assault sprang out of that. 0:09:03.511 --> 0:09:06.470 Clinton, who up to this point had appeared even keeled 0:09:06.511 --> 0:09:10.030 and in decent spirits, suddenly changed her tones, and they didn't. 0:09:10.391 --> 0:09:12.950 With all due respect, the fact is we had four 0:09:13.111 --> 0:09:14.111 dead Americans. 0:09:14.190 --> 0:09:15.511 Was it because of a protest? 0:09:15.590 --> 0:09:17.271 Or was it because of guys out for a walk 0:09:17.310 --> 0:09:19.430 when night, or decide they'd go kill some Americans? 0:09:19.910 --> 0:09:22.430 What difference at this point does it make? 0:09:22.751 --> 0:09:25.591 It is our job to figure out what happened and 0:09:25.631 --> 0:09:28.751 do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again. 0:09:28.871 --> 0:09:33.030 Senator Now, honestly, this became the SoundBite of the day. 0:09:33.710 --> 0:09:37.590 On the big broadcast networks, Clinton's testimony was described as 0:09:37.670 --> 0:09:38.871 fiery and riveting. 0:09:38.991 --> 0:09:42.550 Today, this woman who has traveled the world as America's 0:09:42.590 --> 0:09:46.070 top diplomat, came to the Hill ready for a fight, 0:09:46.471 --> 0:09:46.951 and her. 0:09:46.830 --> 0:09:49.670 Long awaited appearance before Congress was remarkable. 0:09:49.830 --> 0:09:51.631 Harrying Hasso questions all day. 0:09:51.950 --> 0:09:56.550 Clinton was also the political pro massaging big egos, sidestepping 0:09:56.590 --> 0:09:59.791 attacks when she could when she couldn't, giving as good. 0:09:59.670 --> 0:10:00.231 As she got. 0:10:01.030 --> 0:10:04.351 But on Fox News, the clip of Clinton saying what 0:10:04.391 --> 0:10:07.631 difference does it make? Was played as callous indifference toward 0:10:07.710 --> 0:10:09.670 those who lost their lives in Bengazi. 0:10:10.070 --> 0:10:13.951 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's monumental gaff that may haunt 0:10:13.991 --> 0:10:15.831 her for the rest of her political career. 0:10:16.351 --> 0:10:19.631 Allison Camarada covered Quinton's testimony as a fill in host 0:10:19.631 --> 0:10:21.750 on the regular weekday edition of Fox and. 0:10:21.710 --> 0:10:23.431 Friends mad As Hill. 0:10:23.871 --> 0:10:26.751 Secretary Clinton fires back at Congress in a battle over 0:10:26.830 --> 0:10:27.430 ben Ghazi. 0:10:27.991 --> 0:10:30.550 What difference at this point does itn't make? 0:10:31.351 --> 0:10:33.070 Well, this morning, we may have an answer for what 0:10:33.070 --> 0:10:36.871 difference it makes, and it may include three more dead Americans. 0:10:36.871 --> 0:10:38.311 You're going to want to hear this, all right. 0:10:38.991 --> 0:10:45.231 Fox really was good at sloganeering and catchphrases and coming 0:10:45.310 --> 0:10:49.231 up with a little outrage nugget to send viewers on 0:10:49.271 --> 0:10:53.070 their way, So that one just came, you know, ready made. 0:10:53.471 --> 0:10:56.990 They just zeroed in for days and days and weeks 0:10:56.991 --> 0:10:58.910 and weeks on what difference does it make? As though 0:10:58.991 --> 0:11:02.991 she was being callous, as though she was being cavalier. Basically, 0:11:02.991 --> 0:11:05.070 they were trying to make it sound synonymous with who cares? 0:11:05.310 --> 0:11:07.790 What difference at this point does itn't make? 0:11:08.271 --> 0:11:09.471 It makes a lot of difference. 0:11:10.111 --> 0:11:13.030 You may notice Camarata uses the word they when talking 0:11:13.111 --> 0:11:16.030 about Fox News. Part of the reason it might just 0:11:16.070 --> 0:11:18.790 be that she doesn't work there anymore. But even at 0:11:18.790 --> 0:11:21.951 the time, Camarada says she felt separate from the network 0:11:22.151 --> 0:11:25.470 and not fully bought in, which I admit reminds me 0:11:25.550 --> 0:11:27.591 of coming home in high school and telling my mom 0:11:27.631 --> 0:11:29.431 it was my friends who had been smoking, not me. 0:11:30.430 --> 0:11:33.391 But Camarada told me that she was never comfortable with 0:11:33.430 --> 0:11:37.030 how her producers and co hosts talked about Bengazi, and 0:11:37.070 --> 0:11:41.271 in particular, how they presented the Clinton sound bite. Over 0:11:41.310 --> 0:11:44.551 the coming weeks. Camarada bristled at Fox's framing of what 0:11:44.631 --> 0:11:47.350 she thought was an uncontroversial comment if she listened to 0:11:47.391 --> 0:11:51.030 the whole thing, But Fox's producers often cut out right 0:11:51.070 --> 0:11:53.311 after what difference at this point does it make? 0:11:53.590 --> 0:11:56.111 So they would end it right there instead of it 0:11:56.231 --> 0:11:58.790 is our job to figure out what happened and do 0:11:58.871 --> 0:12:01.191 everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, 0:12:01.391 --> 0:12:05.030 that's her next sentence, and they wouldn't always play that part. 0:12:05.310 --> 0:12:07.951 Camarata decided to push back on air. 0:12:08.471 --> 0:12:10.591 Her point is that what is the label? What difference 0:12:10.631 --> 0:12:13.111 does the label make? And her point, which then she 0:12:13.231 --> 0:12:17.070 didn't answer, is where's the justice? Why hasn't it even 0:12:17.111 --> 0:12:22.230 been prosecuted? We are our American was killed. They were 0:12:22.391 --> 0:12:23.871 terrorists and had we gone. 0:12:23.950 --> 0:12:27.151 It was a quiet rebellion and pretty easy to miss 0:12:27.190 --> 0:12:29.951 if you weren't looking for it. But Camarada told me 0:12:30.030 --> 0:12:32.431 that every time she departed from the party line in 0:12:32.430 --> 0:12:35.151 this way, she felt like she was risking her job. 0:12:35.590 --> 0:12:39.910 There was no winning that conversation with Roger. He had 0:12:39.950 --> 0:12:42.910 his opinion, and you were supposed to sort of reflect 0:12:42.910 --> 0:12:43.470 his opinion. 0:12:43.790 --> 0:12:48.111 Looking back, Camarata describes Fox's Bengazi coverage as a kind 0:12:48.111 --> 0:12:48.991 of feedback loop. 0:12:50.471 --> 0:12:53.071 There is a certain kind of self fulfilling prophecy when 0:12:53.111 --> 0:12:56.511 it comes to outrage. We did train the audience to 0:12:56.590 --> 0:12:57.510 become outraged. 0:12:57.950 --> 0:12:59.151 Often the scripts. 0:12:58.790 --> 0:13:02.271 Would say you'll be outraged right after a commercial. We 0:13:02.351 --> 0:13:04.030 told people stick around for the outrage. 0:13:04.231 --> 0:13:05.950 We told them they would be outraged. 0:13:06.151 --> 0:13:08.951 We told them afterwards, were sure they are outraged, and 0:13:09.111 --> 0:13:10.751 lo and behold, they came outraged. 0:13:10.950 --> 0:13:14.391 The right wing outrage machine was not invented by Fox News. 0:13:14.991 --> 0:13:17.991 It had been around in various forms for decades, and 0:13:18.111 --> 0:13:22.550 Hillary Clinton had long been one of its favorite targets. Now, 0:13:22.790 --> 0:13:26.191 in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack, the machine was 0:13:26.231 --> 0:13:31.151 about to kick into high gear. I'm Leon Nafok from 0:13:31.231 --> 0:13:36.271 Prolog Projects and Pushkin Industries. This is fiasco Bengazi. 0:13:36.751 --> 0:13:40.230 He said, the government is lying to you. What they're 0:13:40.271 --> 0:13:41.910 saying happened did not happen. 0:13:42.190 --> 0:13:45.590 Is the Obama administrations threatened Benghazi whistleblowers. 0:13:45.751 --> 0:13:47.391 I was literally afraid from my life. 0:13:47.550 --> 0:13:48.830 What do you mean, stand down? 0:13:48.830 --> 0:13:51.310 They're invading the place. Yeah. I think there's a direct 0:13:51.310 --> 0:13:55.871 line from what happened in the nineteen nineties to twenty sixteen. 0:13:56.590 --> 0:14:01.471 Episode five Greatest Hits, in which Benghazi transforms from an 0:14:01.471 --> 0:14:05.431 Obama scandal into the ultimate Clinton scandal, as decades of 0:14:05.471 --> 0:14:08.910 built up Clinton lore provide all parties with a roadmap, 0:14:09.231 --> 0:14:19.511 a backstory, and a cudgel. We'll be right back. When 0:14:19.551 --> 0:14:23.031 Hillary Clinton testified before Congress in January of twenty thirteen, 0:14:23.671 --> 0:14:26.350 it was not her first time having to publicly address 0:14:26.391 --> 0:14:29.951 a scandal. She had been fighting off various allegations ever 0:14:29.991 --> 0:14:32.631 since her husband Bill first ran for president in nineteen 0:14:32.671 --> 0:14:37.071 ninety two, long before Fox News even existed. The din 0:14:37.151 --> 0:14:39.511 of controversy was a fact of life for the Clintons 0:14:40.031 --> 0:14:41.870 and a source of endless frustration. 0:14:42.351 --> 0:14:47.351 Clinton was elected, and there were people in the right 0:14:47.391 --> 0:14:50.390 wing who didn't accept that election as legitimate. 0:14:51.151 --> 0:14:54.631 This is David Brock. During the early days of Bill 0:14:54.671 --> 0:14:57.791 Clinton's presidency. He was a young journalist working at a 0:14:57.791 --> 0:15:00.991 conservative magazine called The American Spectator. 0:15:00.751 --> 0:15:03.871 And you know, in circles that I was in, they 0:15:03.911 --> 0:15:08.191 were talking about impeaching him literally before he was even 0:15:08.231 --> 0:15:11.671 sworn into office. So there was a machinery in place 0:15:11.791 --> 0:15:14.151 to try to make that happen. 0:15:14.830 --> 0:15:17.031 As Brock tells it, the writing he did for The 0:15:17.031 --> 0:15:20.230 American Spectator was part of an effort known internally as 0:15:20.271 --> 0:15:24.071 the Arkansas Project. It was funded by a conservative billionaire 0:15:24.151 --> 0:15:27.351 named Richard Mellen'scaife, and its purpose was to dig up 0:15:27.391 --> 0:15:29.671 dirt on the Clintons from before they moved into the 0:15:29.671 --> 0:15:30.191 White House. 0:15:30.471 --> 0:15:32.551 Anything was fair game. They were looking for anything they 0:15:32.551 --> 0:15:37.231 could find that could help, at first to cause problems 0:15:37.271 --> 0:15:41.071 for Clinton, and then it became more explicit mission to 0:15:41.071 --> 0:15:41.991 get him out office. 0:15:42.671 --> 0:15:45.711 Brock told me that at the time he genuinely thought 0:15:45.751 --> 0:15:49.511 he was doing journalism, but he realized pretty quickly that 0:15:49.590 --> 0:15:53.111 his patrons saw him more as a political operative, and 0:15:53.271 --> 0:15:56.710 he embraced it. The outgoing message on Brock's answering machine 0:15:56.791 --> 0:15:59.751 during Clinton's first term was I'm out trying to bring 0:15:59.791 --> 0:16:00.511 down the president. 0:16:00.791 --> 0:16:03.711 That was the intention of the Arkansas project. It used 0:16:04.151 --> 0:16:07.671 tactics of journalism, but it was more like political opposition 0:16:07.791 --> 0:16:12.111 research without any scruples at all. It had no fealty 0:16:12.191 --> 0:16:15.271 to facts or truth. If it was a myth that 0:16:15.311 --> 0:16:19.271 could stick, that was fine. It was just to create 0:16:19.511 --> 0:16:22.951 an atmosphere in which it was difficult for Clinton to 0:16:23.071 --> 0:16:26.951 govern and to throw sand in the gears of any 0:16:26.991 --> 0:16:28.711 progress that would be made under Clinton. 0:16:29.871 --> 0:16:32.831 In nineteen ninety three, Brock got a tip from a 0:16:32.871 --> 0:16:37.791 major Republican donor. Apparently there were some Arkansas State troopers 0:16:37.830 --> 0:16:40.511 who had served on Bill Clinton's security detail while he 0:16:40.551 --> 0:16:43.791 was governor, and they had some salacious stories to tell 0:16:43.830 --> 0:16:44.791 about what they'd seen. 0:16:45.911 --> 0:16:49.511 I went down to Arkansas. I spent hours and hours 0:16:50.151 --> 0:16:54.511 debriefing the troopers. They were seemingly first hand witnesses to 0:16:54.551 --> 0:16:55.191 these events. 0:16:55.551 --> 0:16:58.231 The troopers told Brock that they had helped then Governor 0:16:58.271 --> 0:17:01.791 Clinton coordinate and cover up his extramarital. 0:17:01.231 --> 0:17:05.590 Affairs, basically being part of a political movement that wanted 0:17:05.631 --> 0:17:08.391 to do damage to the Clintons. You know, I took 0:17:08.391 --> 0:17:11.031 them at their word. I did not do a lot 0:17:11.071 --> 0:17:14.870 of like checking beyond what they said. 0:17:15.870 --> 0:17:18.630 As Brock explained it to me, the main goal of 0:17:18.671 --> 0:17:21.750 the story was to conjure the width of scandal so 0:17:21.791 --> 0:17:24.551 that journalists in the mainstream media could pick up the scent. 0:17:25.630 --> 0:17:29.191 The Spectator had a relatively modest circulation and they were 0:17:29.231 --> 0:17:32.791 known to have an anti Clinton slant. But if they 0:17:32.830 --> 0:17:35.071 could get coverage of the State Trooper story into a 0:17:35.110 --> 0:17:38.830 more mainstream outlet, it would remove the air of bias 0:17:38.911 --> 0:17:42.751 from the allegations and amplify the scandal to a massive audience. 0:17:43.751 --> 0:17:46.830 Brock came to think of this process as scandal laundering. 0:17:47.511 --> 0:17:51.231 One of the goals that the Spectator was to try 0:17:51.271 --> 0:17:55.951 to hook more established media onto some of our narratives. 0:17:56.110 --> 0:18:00.871 You'd plant a seed and then it kind of grows 0:18:00.911 --> 0:18:03.990 on all sorts of places, and by the time you're done, 0:18:04.150 --> 0:18:05.390 it's on the evening news. 0:18:06.991 --> 0:18:08.430 This is CNN. 0:18:09.191 --> 0:18:11.430 When Brock was ready to go to press with his story, 0:18:11.471 --> 0:18:14.670 but the State Troopers, the American Spectator made a point 0:18:14.671 --> 0:18:16.471 of giving CNN a sneak peek. 0:18:16.991 --> 0:18:20.511 They went for it. They interviewed the troopers themselves the 0:18:20.590 --> 0:18:23.910 day the piece was published, and the troopers were on 0:18:24.191 --> 0:18:26.911 six o'clock evening news on CNN on a particular day 0:18:26.951 --> 0:18:28.711 the story broke, Hilary Sawer. 0:18:29.110 --> 0:18:31.110 She told me, she said, I know who she is, 0:18:31.191 --> 0:18:33.911 I know what she is here for get the whole 0:18:34.031 --> 0:18:34.551 out of here. 0:18:34.711 --> 0:18:38.071 So it very quickly got into the bloodstream of the 0:18:38.110 --> 0:18:40.150 mainstream media, which is what our goal was. 0:18:40.511 --> 0:18:43.390 The troopers say they helped Clinton pick up women up 0:18:43.431 --> 0:18:46.191 to the day he left for Washington to become president. 0:18:46.590 --> 0:18:50.710 The story became known as Troopergate. The scandal had been 0:18:50.791 --> 0:18:51.631 duly laundered. 0:18:51.911 --> 0:18:55.271 One senior administration official complained that every time they have 0:18:55.350 --> 0:18:58.311 to deny a new round of these kinds of allegations, 0:18:58.830 --> 0:18:59.551 it gets harder. 0:19:00.471 --> 0:19:03.911 Over the next few years, the American Spectator printed one 0:19:03.991 --> 0:19:07.191 story after another suggesting that the Clintons were nothing less 0:19:07.231 --> 0:19:08.710 than criminal masterminds. 0:19:08.991 --> 0:19:12.510 There were stories about Clinton being involved in drug grinning 0:19:12.590 --> 0:19:16.071 out of an airport in Arkansas. There was some speculation 0:19:16.191 --> 0:19:20.511 that the Clintons somehow were implicated in Vincent Foster's death, 0:19:20.630 --> 0:19:23.791 which was a suicide, but was said to be something else. 0:19:24.751 --> 0:19:27.271 What Brock is referring to here is the so called 0:19:27.390 --> 0:19:31.190 Clinton body count, a darkly absurd rumor alleging that the 0:19:31.231 --> 0:19:35.631 Clintons have had multiple close associates murdered the best known 0:19:35.711 --> 0:19:39.150 data point in this fantasy was always Vince Foster, a 0:19:39.231 --> 0:19:41.870 longtime friend and colleague of the Clintons who worked in 0:19:41.870 --> 0:19:44.150 the White House before taking his own life in nineteen 0:19:44.231 --> 0:19:49.471 ninety three. After Foster's death, the allegation that the Clintons 0:19:49.471 --> 0:19:52.071 had something to do with it gained so much traction 0:19:52.231 --> 0:19:56.071 that it was discussed in congressional hearings. One of the 0:19:56.071 --> 0:19:58.950 theories that sprouted from Foster's death was that he and 0:19:59.071 --> 0:20:01.750 Hillary Clinton have been having an affair, but there were 0:20:01.791 --> 0:20:05.350 many other theories too, and between nineteen ninety three and 0:20:05.431 --> 0:20:09.791 nineteen ninety seven, at least five official investigations looked into them. 0:20:10.751 --> 0:20:14.551 Each one came to the same conclusion, including one led 0:20:14.551 --> 0:20:16.271 by independent counsel Ken Starr. 0:20:17.791 --> 0:20:21.430 The Whitewater Special prosecutor. Kenneth Starr issued his final report 0:20:21.511 --> 0:20:24.150 today on the death of former White House Deputy Council 0:20:24.271 --> 0:20:29.671 Vince Foster and reaffirmed that Foster was depressed and committed suicide. 0:20:29.830 --> 0:20:32.830 Bill Clinton had famously bragged on the campaign trail that 0:20:32.911 --> 0:20:35.191 a vote for him was a vote for Hillary too. 0:20:35.630 --> 0:20:37.751 I always say that that my slogan might well be 0:20:37.870 --> 0:20:39.351 a buy one, get one free. 0:20:39.870 --> 0:20:42.630 Unfortunately for Hillary that seemed to mean that when it 0:20:42.671 --> 0:20:45.271 came to scandal, she and her husband would also be 0:20:45.311 --> 0:20:49.870 treated as a pair. During just the first two years 0:20:49.870 --> 0:20:53.591 of Clinton's presidency, Hillary was implicated in Troopergate, which you've 0:20:53.590 --> 0:20:56.951 heard about, Travelgate, in which Hillary was accused of funneling 0:20:56.991 --> 0:21:01.031 government business to a travel agent friend, and Whitewater, which 0:21:01.031 --> 0:21:03.830 concerned an Arkansas real estate deal for which she spent 0:21:03.951 --> 0:21:05.991 four hours in front of a federal grand jury. 0:21:06.311 --> 0:21:08.751 The White House today had little comment on the first 0:21:08.791 --> 0:21:11.430 lady's grand jury appear runs, other than to say she 0:21:11.511 --> 0:21:14.591 answered all questions and was not told she'd have to return. 0:21:15.110 --> 0:21:17.711 When reports first surfaced about her husband's affair with a 0:21:17.791 --> 0:21:21.671 former White House intern, Hillary Clinton blamed a vast right 0:21:21.671 --> 0:21:22.711 wing conspiracy. 0:21:22.791 --> 0:21:26.511 I mean, look at the very people who were involved 0:21:26.511 --> 0:21:29.950 in this. They have popped up in other settings. The 0:21:30.031 --> 0:21:33.430 great story here for anybody willing to find it and 0:21:33.471 --> 0:21:36.631 write about it and explain it is this vast right 0:21:36.671 --> 0:21:40.670 wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since 0:21:40.791 --> 0:21:42.311 the day he announced for president. 0:21:43.951 --> 0:21:47.870 At the time, independent counsel Ken Starr dismissed the idea 0:21:47.991 --> 0:21:51.390 as nonsense, while the media portrayed Clinton as the woman 0:21:51.431 --> 0:21:54.111