The latest attacks on Hillary

Hillary Clinton Chose to Shield a Top Adviser Accused of Harassment in 2008

 A senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign who was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young subordinate was kept on the campaign at Mrs. Clinton’s request, according to four people familiar with what took place.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager at the time recommended that she fire the adviser, Burns Strider. 

But Mrs. Clinton did not. 

Instead, Mr. Strider was docked several weeks of pay and ordered to undergo counseling, and the young woman was moved to a new job.

Mr. Strider, who was Mrs. Clinton’s faith adviser, was a founder of the American Values Network and sent the candidate scripture readings every morning for months during the campaign, was hired five years later to lead an independent group that supported Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 candidacy, Correct the Record, which was created by a close Clinton ally, David Brock.

Did she read them?

Is she truly a liberal Christian, the sort of person who reads scripture as a daily devotion but insists on the legality and even social acceptability of abortion and all forms of what Christian scripture defines as sexual outlawry hated by God but pedophilia?

He was fired after several months for workplace issues, including allegations that he harassed a young female aide, according to three people close to Correct the Record’s management.

Mr. Strider did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Those familiar with the accounts said that, over the years, a number of advisers urged Mrs. Clinton to sever ties with Mr. Strider, and people familiar with what took place did not want to see Mrs. Clinton blamed for the misconduct of men she was close to.

. . . .

The complaint against Mr. Strider was made by a 30-year-old woman who shared an office with him. 

She told a campaign official that Mr. Strider had rubbed her shoulders inappropriately, kissed her on the forehead and sent her a string of suggestive emails, including at least one during the night, according to three former campaign officials familiar with what took place.

The complaint was taken to Ms. Doyle, the campaign manager, who approached Mrs. Clinton and urged that Mr. Strider, who was married at the time, be fired, according to the officials familiar with what took place. 

Mrs. Clinton said she did not want to, and instead he remained on her staff.

Ms. Doyle was fired shortly after that in a staff shake-up in response to Mrs. Clinton’s third-place finish in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. 

And Mr. Strider never attended the mandated counseling, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.

The incident raises an interesting question.

It's pretty clear this guy was and likely remains an incorrigible horn-dog whose offense is that of constantly pestering women for sex, rather like Hillary's frat-boy husband.

And it appears his "inappropriate touching" went no further than putting unwanted hands on shoulders.

It seems right that no single incident of that sort deserves firing, but it's not about a single incident, is it?

It's about a chronic behavior that shows and has shown no sign of abating.

And what does that do to the work atmosphere for all the women of the workplace?

And everybody else, really?

That is not an acceptable pollution of the workplace.

Why Did Hillary Clinton Let This Happen?

Mrs. Clinton has been inhibited in addressing the issue of sexual harassment, during her most recent campaign and afterward, both because of her husband’s behavior and her own response to the accusations against him. 

As a betrayed wife, those close to her said she believed his denials and thought his accusers were lying for political purposes. 

His campaign hired investigators to discredit the women.

. . . .

In the end, as with so much about Mrs. Clinton, it depends whether you see her as somehow emblematic of women or this particular woman, marked and marred by her own history. 

“We can see looking in her biography how she may have developed this blind spot,” Professor Saguy said. 

“It was maybe a coping mechanism in her own life, maybe to get up in the morning.”