While reporters usually pretend that Bill and Hillary Clinton's legal problems are behind them, Mrs. Clinton seems to know better. That is, at least, judging by the way she's handling the latest lawsuit filed against her.
Sen. Clinton's office spent a significant part of this week dodging media questions about Stan Lee Media co-founder Peter Paul, who claimed in court documents filed in Los Angeles last week that Clinton and her husband accepted $2 million from him and reported only a tiny fraction to the Federal Election Commission.
"Clinton's Senate staff did not respond to the Associated Press' repeated requests for comment over two days," the AP said Thursday.
In fact, the Paul lawsuit seems to have prompted a wave of stonewalling from Democratic officials, who are suddenly behaving as if they have something to worry about. Here's what the AP reported about Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who had his own dealings with the Hollywood mogul in 2000 when Rendell was Democratic National Committee chairman.
"[Paul] says he agreed to Rendell's request to donate $150,000 in Stan Lee Media Inc. stock to a June 2000 fund-raiser supporting the presidential campaign of then-Vice President Al Gore, and another $150,000 in stock to co-host a fund-raiser for Clinton's Senate campaign a day later. Rendell's press secretary, Kate Philips, said the governor won't comment."
Mr. Paul's complaint was off the radar screen for two years after he fled to Brazil to escape his own legal problems connected with the collapse of SLM. But after a harrowing sojourn in a Brazilian jail, the Clinton accuser has returned to the U.S. - with a little help from the Bush Justice Department.
What may worry Democrats like Sen. Clinton and Gov. Rendell is the prospect that federal prosecutors might be moving his case to the front burner.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told the AP that his client was repeatedly interviewed by federal investigators while in Brazil, and is "eager" to cooperate with federal and state authorities.
And while prosecutors won't reveal what they're up too, another witness emerged from the shadows earlier this year, hinting publicly that he has some damaging information on the former first family that might corroborate Paul's claims.
"I'm a star witness against President and Mrs. Clinton," Hollywood fund-raiser Aaron Tonken told lawyers, in court documents uncovered by Vanity Fair magazine over the summer.
"I'm a star witness in New York in the grand jury regarding the Marc Rich pardon and regarding the fundraising activities that I've done on behalf of the Clintons," he explained.
Tonken worked on the same gala fund raiser for Sen. Clinton that Paul helped bankroll with $2 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
No wonder Sen. Clinton is uncharacteristically silent.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Editor's note:
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