She was for it before she was against it. But thanks to the State Department’s abuse of the Freedom of Information Act, we won’t know how Hillary Clinton really feels about the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership until after the November election.
That’s according to International Business Times, which filed an open records request for Clinton’s TPP-related correspondence at State back in July 2015.
Via IBT:
The State Department originally said it estimated the request would be completed by April 2016. Last week the agency said it had completed the search process for the correspondence but also said it was delaying the completion of the request until late November 2016 — weeks after the presidential election. The delay was issued in the same week the Obama administration filed a court motion to try to kill a lawsuit aimed at forcing the federal government to more quickly comply with open records requests for Clinton-era State Department documents.
What the publication was looking for was the information needed to provide better public understanding of “how involved Clinton and her top aides were in shaping the trade agreement, and whether her agency had a hand in crafting any particular provisions in the pact.”
Considering how Clinton’s broader email scandal provides every indication that the former Secretary of State used her position as the nation’s top diplomat to sell out the American people for political favors from massive global corporations and foreign governments, it’s probably safe to assume that she was very involved in helping to draft the secretive pact.
But after repeatedly promoting the deal as Secretary of State, Clinton in 2015 changed her tune to, “I did not work on TPP.”
For comparison, here’s what she had to say back in 2012:
And with Singapore and a growing list of other countries on both sides of the Pacific, we are making progress toward finalizing a far-reaching new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The so-called TPP will lower barriers, raise standards, and drive long-term growth across the region. It will cover 40 percent of the world’s total trade and establish strong protections for workers and the environment. Better jobs with higher wages and safer working conditions, including for women, migrant workers and others too often in the past excluded from the formal economy will help build Asia’s middle class and rebalance the global economy. Canada and Mexico have already joined the original TPP partners. We continue to consult with Japan. And we are offering to assist with capacity building, so that every country in ASEAN can eventually join. We welcome the interest of any nation willing to meet 21st century standards as embodied in the TPP, including China.
Sounds like she was (not)working pretty hard, huh?
Donald Trump’s campaign was not very happy about State’s decision, saying in a statement to IBT: “Hillary Clinton’s TPP emails should absolutely be released, as her support for TPP threatens to permanently undermine U.S. workers and sovereignty. Hillary is 100 percent controlled by corporate interests, including foreign corporate interests, and it is essential these emails see the light of day.”
We agree.
So why is the State Department so blatantly delaying the request? Well, if you’ve been paying any attention to the Obama administration’s abysmal transparency practices, you already know.
If you haven’t been paying attention, catch up in the latest about the “most transparent” administration:
Reporters fire back after ‘most transparent’ president’s lecture on journalism
Lawsuit targets Obama administration for deliberate Freedom of Information obstruction
National Archives redacted its ‘constant fear of upsetting the WH’ from FOIA-requested emails
‘Transparency’ — just another State Department smokescreen
Watchdogs turn to Congress to combat Obama’s miserable transparency record
What’s the State Department hiding for Clinton?
Groups call on Obama to undo his administration’s damage to Freedom of Information laws
The post ‘Most transparent administration’ blocks trade deal information to protect Clinton appeared first on Personal Liberty®.
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