Clinton campaign discussed ways to refute rape accuser’s claims

By Kevin Bohn

After Juanita Broaddrick tweeted in January that former President Bill Clinton raped her, Clinton’s attorney, David Kendall, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, held a call to talk about the case and evidence that could be used to refute the allegations, according to hacked emails released by WikiLeaks.

The hacked email, entitled “History of Juanita Broaddrick Allegations,” contained several attachments.

The documents were made public on Saturday as part of WikiLeaks’ hack of Podesta’s email account. The Clinton campaign has refused to confirm or deny the authenticity of the emails released by WikiLeaks, and CNN cannot independently confirm their authenticity.

In the tweet, Broaddrick repeats an allegation that “I was 35 years old when Bill Clinton, Ark. Attorney General raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73…it never goes away.”

Bill Clinton’s attorney denied that claim in 1999.

The hacked email sent to Podesta from Kendall included a 1998 affidavit signed by Broaddrick. The document states: “During the 1992 presidential campaign, there were unfounded rumors and stories circulated that Mr. Clinton had made unwelcome sexual advances toward me in the late seventies” and goes on to say: “I repeatedly denied the allegations and requested that my family’s privacy be respected. These allegations are untrue and I had hoped that they would no longer haunt me, or cause further disruption to my family.”

This affidavit was part of the lawsuit filed by Paula Jones against Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. She was subpoenaed in that case.

Kendall noted to Podesta in January of this year that Broaddrick also testified in a deposition in January 1998 reaffirming the contents of the affidavit.

In April 1998, however, she told investigators from Independent Counsel Ken Starr’s office that the affidavit was false, said Kendall, who sent part of Starr’s report to Podesta.

“Starr was seeking more evidence against the president, any way he could, and he immunized Broaddrick to protect her from any prosecution for perjury if she now changed her story. Voila! She did, disavowing her sworn affidavit and sworn deposition testimony,” wrote Kendall in the email.

Also attached to the email was a NBC News story from 1999 recounting a statement Kendall made saying “any allegation that the president assaulted Mrs. Broaddrick more than 20 years ago is false.”

Kendall ended the email, saying, “Please let me know if there’s anything else I can provide about this slimefest.”

Broaddrick was one of three Bill Clinton accusers who appeared alongside Donald Trump a week ago in St. Louis at an event before the second presidential debate. The group was invited to sit in the debate hall by the Trump campaign.

The Clinton campaign did not comment on Broaddrick until after Sunday’s debate, when the Democratic nominee, responding to Trump’s decision to bring the accusers, told reporters it was up to Trump as to how he ran his campaign.