Will These Scandals Derail Hillary Clinton’s Bid for Presidency?

When it comes to scandal, Hillary Clinton may just be the most controversial candidate to ever run for office. However, with the spotlight on Hillary now more than ever, opponents are taking every opportunity to attack her long and controversial past. Whether or not you support her, you should know about these scandals before voting in November. Check out these real scandals from Clinton’s past, and see for yourself… 1. Clinton Foundation (2016) Notice we had to put “2016” in the title, as the foundation has been embroiled in scandal on numerous occasions. The Associated Press revealed in August that “More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money… to the Clinton Foundation,” calling into question her ethics if elected president. 2. Benghazi Terror Attacks Clinton sent classified emails from a private server during the 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi. In July 2016, FBI Director James Comey stated that “Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws… they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” 3. Private Email Server It later surfaced that Hillary had sent countless emails from the same private server in her New York residence. Her team then deleted select emails, claiming they were “personal.” FBI investigators concluded that, while they can’t be certain her domain was hacked, they did have evidence that “hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact.” 4. DNC Email Scandal Thousands of emails leaked on the eve of the Democratic National Convention implicated Debbie Wasserman Schultz, then DNC chairwoman, and several other DNC staffers in working to sabotage Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Attacks included targeting Sanders’s religion in Evangelical states, misrepresenting Sanders’ campaign as “disorganized,” and ridiculing his push for debates. After Schultz resigned in disgrace, Hillary offered her “longtime friend” a prominent position on her campaign. 5. Clinton Speaking Fees Hillary, Bill, and their daughter Chelsea have made a knack of charging exorbitant fees for speaking engagements. In 2013 alone, Hillary received a staggering $11 million for 51 speeches! Many critics have raised questions of ethics and kickbacks, as money for the speeches is typically paid to the order of the Clinton Foundation. 6. Clinton Foundation (1997-2016) Recent allegations leveled against the Clinton Foundation should come as no surprise. In the past, the Foundation has been charged with accepting some $100 million in donations from foreign states (specifically, Saudi Arabia), accepting roughly $10 million to help get a visa for a British soccer player with a criminal record, making errors in its tax returns, and much more. 7. Monica Lewinsky ‘Conspiracy’ Everyone remembers the infamous Clinton-Lewinsky affair. When confronted with the allegations, Hillary completely denied everything, defended her husband, and even went on record saying that she believed the whole thing had been a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” 8. Norman Hsu Norman Hsu was a contributor and fundraiser for the Democrat party during the 2008. He gained notoriety for his bundled contributions, which went a long way to promoting Hillary’s candidacy. However, Hsu’s suspicious contributions prompted an investigation that revealed he had been a long-time fugitive in connection with a 1992 fraud conviction. 9. Vince Foster Scandal A close friend and deputy counsel to the Clinton administration, Vince Foster was found dead in his home from a single gunshot wound in July of 1993. Many claim that stress from Foster’s position triggered his worsening depression. Others recall how Hillary publicly ridiculed Foster just a week before his death. Still others believe Foster simply ‘knew too much.’ In his suicide note, he wrote, “The public will never believe the innocence of the Clintons… [I]n Washington… ruining people is considered sport.” 10. Travelgate Scandal In the spring of 1993, seven White House employees were fired for questionable accounting practices. Hillary is believed to have known all about the firings, and actually played a part in them. The firings were meant to cover up questionable resource allocation and other ‘favors’ from within the White House Travel Office, which Hillary directly oversaw. 11. Jorge Cabrera Scandal Jorge Cabrera was a supporter of the Democrats in the mid-90s. During that time, he was seen in pictures along with the then-First Lady, and even wrote the Clintons a personal check of $20,000. However, just a few short months later and Cabrera was arrested in a drug bust in Miami, and was given 19 years behind bars. 12. Paula Jones Scandal Paula Jones was a government worker in Arkansas, who accused Bill Clinton of sexually harassing her while he was governor. She filed a suit in 1994, but the case was settled out of court. Many years later, in 2015, the same Paula Jones told reporters that she believed that Hillary Clinton knew all about the sexual harassment, yet covered up for her husband. 13. FBI Background Scandal After the Clinton administration was found to have more than 700 FBI background reports on rival Republicans, all sorts of questions were raised. One big question was that of the director of the Office of Personnel Security, Craig Livingstone, and how he came to have such a high-profile job. As the story goes, Hillary pushed for him to get the job, as she was good friends with his mother. 14. Sniper Fire Scandal When she was First Lady, Hillary went on an official visit to Bosnia to meet with American troops stationed there. On her return, she told the press that she had herself come under sniper fire and could have been killed at the airport when she arrived. Just one week later, Hillary took back those comments claiming she had “made a mistake” in the recounting of what actually happened. 15. Departure from the White House When the Clinton administration handed over the keys of the White House to the incoming Bush administration, allegations of “damage, theft, vandalism and pranks” were in abundance. When the Clinton’s moved from the White House to their New York home they allegedly took items from the White House which they shouldn’t have, totaling a shocking $190,000. The couple ultimately returned the items, but the scandal lived on. 16. Whitewater Scandal Whitewater is the generic term for a bunch of scandals attributed to the Clintons. For example, they purchased a few hundred acres of land with their personal friends Jim and Susan McDougal along the White River in the Ozarks. That deal failed and many shady business dealings came out. This scandal led on to the Lewinsky scandal and was seen as “the first domino” that plagued the Clintons for years to come. 17. ‘Dirty’ Cattle Money This scandal dates back to the 1970s when Hillary Clinton made a tidy profit of $100,000 trading on the cattle futures market. She was in cahoots with a personal friend at the time who worked for Tyson Foods Inc. Apparently, according to a New York Times article from 1994, Tyson Foods received $9 million in government loans, deeming the whole sage very unsavory and questionable. 18. ‘Fat Cat Hotel’ The nation was shocked when, in 1996, the Clinton Administration was caught awarding top Democratic Party donors with overnight stays in the White House, usually in the Lincoln Bedroom. The move sparked controversy, but like all Clinton scandals, eventually died down. However, of the 66 ‘Fat Cats’ still alive, 34 have donated a total of $1.15 million to Hillary Clinton since January 2013.