In a not-surprising development, rape allegations against Bill Clinton are getting fresh circulation. Juanita Broaddrick, who says Clinton raped her in a hotel in 1978 and who first disclosed the incident in 1999, tweeted Wednesday that she is still suffering after Bill raped her and Hillary Clinton “tried to silence me.”
Broaddrick first alleged that Bill Clinton raped her in a February 1999 interview with Dateline. With the help of right-wing organization Judicial Watch, she sued him in the summer of that year, part of a bid to get access to an FBI file she said was being kept on her. She also told the Weekly Standard her nursing home business was audited shortly after she filed suit, saying, “I feel like it’s politically motivated.” Her lawsuit was dismissed in 2001.
Vox reporter Dylan Matthews says he’s confirmed that the Broaddrick account is really her, as did NBC News:
Broaddrick’s account, which was created in 2009, has mentioned the Clintons several times since the fall:
A woman previously asked Hillary Clinton about the rape allegations against her husband at a December campaign stop, pointing out that she’s said rape victims “have the right to be believed.” Clinton responded, “Well, I would say that everyone should be believed at first. Until they are disbelieved based on evidence.”
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Broaddrick during the 1999 Dateline interview. Screenshot via YouTube/Black and Blonde Media.
DISCUSSION
I hate this. I want to believe all alleged victims. However, I had a friend in college who was falsely accused of rape (it was proven he wasn’t in town within a week of date alleged, and the young woman withdrew her allegations and admitted they’d been fabricated), so I know false allegations exist, and Broaddrick’s court case was dismissed, and she aligned with right-wing organizations...
Shit.
I don’t know anymore.