# Yet another Clinton scandal **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 10, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702 "2002-10-10T17:05:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/1 "2002-10-10T17:05:42Z")
The New York Times [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/10/politics/10GIFT.html) a newly batch of embarassing gifts to the Clintons. > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — Denise Rich, Malcolm S. Forbes, Nelson Mandela and other friends and supporters of the Clintons showered the couple with roughly $1 million in previously unreported gifts during the Clinton presidency… > > …He suggested that the people who gave these gifts to the Clintons could have been trying to gain access to the White House and influence the administration’s policy decisions. > > … But the report said that the Clintons underestimated the value of dozens of those gifts… > > The report released today contains a new round of potentially embarrassing information. It documents an array of gifts that the Clintons received and the names of the people who gave those gifts… > > Then there were other gifts that investigators say the Clintons may have used before donating them to the presidential library: nine custom-made tuxedo and dress shirts worth $900 from Walter and Selma Kaye; and four purses worth $8,680 from the handbag designer Judith Leiber. > > The report also shows that the former first family received gifts from individuals who were at the center of the Clinton White House campaign finance scandals. To investigators and others, that suggests that the gifts became another avenue for influencing the administration. > > There was a $2,100 sculpture of a goddess on a wooden base given by James Riady, an Indonesian businessman who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations last year and agreed to pay $8.6 million in fines for using foreign corporate money to back Mr. Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. The Clintons also received two sculptures worth $1,550 from Johnny Chung, who was at the center of a 1996 campaign fund-raising investigation. > > The report prompted sharp criticism from government-reform advocates, who said the Clintons acted inappropriately if not illegally, by not reporting the gifts. > > “It’s a serious allegation if it’s true,” said Gary Ruskin, the director of the Congressional Accountability Project, a watchdog group. “The least you can say is that they are trying to evade gift reporting.” I think they did act inappropriately by not reporting the gifts.They acted corruptly by accepting expensive gifts from those seeking government favors. However, Hillary Clinton’s spokesman had a defence: > [@](#): > > Philippe Reines, speaking for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, also dismissed the report, saying, “Despite a concerted effort to turn a partisan preoccupation into a gift that keeps on giving, there is nothing new here.” He’s right. There is nothing new here. We already knew about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s venality.☹ ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/2 "2002-10-10T17:17:29Z")
You missed omitted–quite intentionally, I’m sure–the pivotal paragraph: > [@](#): > > The gifts were not disclosed by the Clintons because the couple turned them over to Bill Clinton’s presidential library, the investigators said. Under federal law, gifts that the first family do not keep for themselves are exempt from the public disclosure requirement on presidential gifts, the investigators said. Every President gets boatloads of gifts. Every President donates the vast majority of them to the government or their presidential libraries. Nothing to see here, move along. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/3 "2002-10-10T17:20:09Z")
Beat me to it. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/4 "2002-10-10T17:21:22Z")
But, doesn’t this prove conclusively that all Democrats are corrupt? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/5 "2002-10-10T17:28:19Z")
**december** –first we agree over Israel. Then, we gotta split over this. :smack: This wasn’t a post, it was a poorly executed stunt. You didn’t even read yer own link. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/6 "2002-10-10T17:41:04Z")
Jeez, **December** , you really gotta get a new hobby. Obsessing over this stuff, especially to the point of editing the OP story to make it seem more scandalous, is kinda pathetic. Willy’s gone. It’s time to find new people to demonize. I’m sure you’ll manage somehow. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/7 "2002-10-10T17:55:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > **You missed omitted–quite intentionally, I’m sure–the pivotal paragraph:** Yep, I intentionally left out that pathetic excuse for an excuse. I figured some Clinton toady would mention it. 😉 Of course, you noticed that Clinton’s intent (formed when?) to put the gift in the Clinton Library doesn’t justify taking gifts from crooks or from people who get government favors in return. Also, the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton actually used some of the gifts might undermine their claim that these gifts were not reportable. An ethical First Family would bend over backwards to report expensive gifts, if there was any doubt as to the legal requirements. In fact, they ought to voluntarily report them. After all, the reporting law isn’t just some formality. It’s purpose is to help assure the public that our President is not using his power to reward donors in exchange for gifts to him and his family. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/8 "2002-10-10T18:02:14Z")
(JER)(JKL#OIdoiu43jlkdlkj3lkj3lkj3 _me hitting head against keyboard_. **december** , don’t the hamsters have enough work as it is? AAAAHHHH! ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/9 "2002-10-10T18:09:56Z")
Get OVER it, december! Christ… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/10 "2002-10-10T18:11:05Z")
Yeah, right. Like there’s ever been one of\* those.\* ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/11 "2002-10-10T18:21:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoid \* > \*\*Get OVER it, december! Christ… \*\* -What is it Spock? -Tricorder shows a dangerously high level of unintentional irony, Captain. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/12 "2002-10-10T18:33:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoid \* > \*\*Get OVER it, december! Christ… \*\* Yes, my chld? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/13 "2002-10-10T18:39:39Z")
I did enjoy this: > [@](#): > > Responding to the report, James E. Kennedy, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton, said: “This story is so old, it’s not just dated, it’s carbon-dated.” Heh. He made a funny. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/14 "2002-10-10T18:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*the couple turned them over to Bill Clinton’s presidential library \*\*[ul] [li] a bronze statue of an angel [/li][li] a hand-woven Navajo chief’s blanket (circa 1885) [/li][li] an oil painting in a gilt frame[/li][li] a cheese plate[/li][li] a porcelain teapot[/li][li] a gold cross[/li][li] nine custom-made tuxedo and dress shirts[/li][li] four purses[/li][li] a sculpture of a goddess on a wooden base [/li][li] two other sculptures [/li][/ul] It’s going to be the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Tchotchke Museum. Oy. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/15 "2002-10-10T18:59:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*\*\*[list] > [li] a cheese plate[/li] \*\* Notice of course how they failed to report the Triscuits and Cheese Wiz. Where’s Ken Starr? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/16 "2002-10-10T19:22:07Z")
Didja know there’s an official White House Gift Office? [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/off-descrp.html](http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/off-descrp.html) > [@](#): > > Gift Office > > Values and records the disposition of all gifts received by the First Family and members of the White House Staff. So all Doug and his Reform Subcommittee posse had to do was look it up in the database. > [@](#): > > The findings, compiled from information contained on the White House gift database… And this took them…um… since last February? Yeah, I know, I have trouble getting my computer to work right, too–the official White House computer, which would have been supplied by the low bidder, must be a real bitch to work with. And the only reason Doug and his posse went after the database was to gather some ammunition for his own legislation. > [@](#): > > The report was commissioned by Representative Doug Ose, a California Republican, who is seeking to build support for legislation he has proposed to tighten the rules on gifts to presidents. This would be [HR 1081,](http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.01081:) which was sent to subcommittee hearings last June and is apparently stalled there. And he’s been working on it since March 2001, poor baby. It must be very difficult for him, no wonder he seized the opportunity to give it a tiny boost. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/17 "2002-10-10T19:38:05Z")
DDG, The White House computer would have pulled the data a lot faster, but they couldn’t figure out how to put the W’s back on the keyboards… ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/18 "2002-10-10T19:41:38Z")
It’s good to know the OP is closely monitoring the number and type of gifts given to the presidential family and will immediately report to us if anything presented to the Bushes seems suspicious. . . . Why are you folks looking at me like that? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/19 "2002-10-10T20:06:09Z")
You know, **december** , after Nixon left office, most people lost interest in digging up more dirt on him… ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702/20 "2002-10-10T22:59:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*The New York Times [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/10/politics/10GIFT.html) a newly batch of embarassing gifts to the Clintons. > I think they did act inappropriately by not reporting the gifts.They acted corruptly by accepting expensive gifts from those seeking government favors. > > However, Hillary Clinton’s spokesman had a defence: He’s right. There is nothing new here. We already knew about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s venality.☹ \*\* It just eats you up that Bill and Hillary are sailing though life, rich, famous and successful while hardworking people like you and I are nobodies doesn’t it? Get over it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-clinton-scandal/131702.md?page=2)