From Hacking to Fracking: Bombshells in Hillary’s Speeches

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There are some startling revelations in the WikiLeaks data dump on what Hillary Clinton told the insiders at those speeches for which she was handsomely compensated.

In 2014, Clinton told a Canadian public-relations firm, tinePublic, that Russian oligarchs were behind the funding of the anti-fracking campaign in the U.S. – even to the point of creating phony environmental groups who supposedly opposed the extraction of oil from shale because its impact on “climate change.”

Clinton told the company: “We were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media. We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand against any effort, oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you, and a lot of the money supporting that message was coming from Russia.”

That’s quite a revelation, indeed. She portrays a picture of old-fashioned disinformation right out of the old KGB playbook. But wait a minute! Hasn’t Hillary Clinton told Americans “climate change” represents one of the greatest threats to global stability and the survival of the human race? Hasn’t she opposed “fracking” for years? Wasn’t it a major issue in her campaign for the Democratic nomination? Yes, to all of the above.

So why is Clinton portraying herself in battle with Russian oligarchs and as a proponent of “fracking”? (Read more from “From Hacking to Fracking: Bombshells in Hillary’s Speeches” HERE)

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Emails: Firm That Hired Abedin Called Chelsea Clinton a ‘Spoiled Brat Kid’

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Emails published by WikiLeaks on Monday show Chelsea Clinton was worried about a consulting firm that was founded by former aides to Bill and Hillary Clinton as she clashed with fellow employees of the Clinton Foundation.

Teneo Strategies, founded by Doug Band and Declan Kelly, has drawn scrutiny for its decision to employ longtime Clinton confidante Huma Abedin during the final months of Hillary Clinton’s State Department tenure. The firm created potential conflicts of interest when Abedin and Band went to State Department officials to seek assistance for Teneo’s clients.

In a Nov. 2011 email to John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s current campaign chair, Band worried that “if this story gets out, we are screwed.” He was referring to Chelsea Clinton’s assertions that Teneo employees had begun to invoke Bill Clinton’s name, without his knowledge or consent, on behalf of corporate clients.

“She is acting like a spoiled brat kid who has nothing else to do but create issues to justify what she’s doing because she, as she has said, hasn’t found her way and has a lack of focus in her life,” Band said of the former first daughter’s criticisms.

Band later described an incident in which the Clinton Foundation’s chief operating officer, Laura Graham, contemplated suicide in Dec. 2011 due to the “stress” of the foundation. (Read more from “Emails: Firm That Hired Abedin Called Chelsea Clinton a ‘Spoiled Brat Kid'” HERE)

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GOP Women Stand by Donald Trump, Blast Those Jumping Ship Over ‘Antique Locker-Room Talk’

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Elected female members of the Republican Party’s national governing body, joined by state lawmakers and county-level party officials, are rallying to Donald Trump’s side.

“I am still solidly behind Mr. Trump,” said Minnesota state Sen. Carrie L. Rudd, a Republican. “Why are we even talking about locker-room comments from 11 years ago when there are so many important issues at hand? The people who supported Trump still do.”

The Republican women began to circle the wagons around their party’s presidential nominee after a string of big names loudly parted company with Mr. Trump in the wake of a press-led attack involving leaked live-microphone sexual comments by him about women.

“Those that are jumping ship are establishment GOP that never supported him in the first place,” Mrs. Rudd said.

Some female lawmakers and party officials said Mr. Trump’s lewd comments managed to alienate more women, but those who remained on his side spelled out what he needed to do to recover in the town hall debate Sunday night in St. Louis with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. (Read more from “GOP Women Stand by Donald Trump, Blast Those Jumping Ship Over ‘Antique Locker-Room Talk'” HERE)

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These State Pensions Are Most Likely to Enforce Benefit Cuts

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A new research note from Moody’s found that State pension funds were underfunded by $1.3 trillion at the end of FY15 but was expected to grow to $1.8 trillion at the end of FY17 as pensions continue to struggle with low returns. We’ve discussed the unintended consequences of the Central Bank’s low-rate polices on pension funds multiples times (see “Pension Duration Dilemma – Why Pension Funds Are Driving The Biggest Bond Bubble In History”)…with the two most likely outcomes being benefits cuts for pensioners and/or crippling tax hikes for citizens.

Total US state aggregate adjusted net pension liabilities (ANPL) totaled $1.25 trillion, or 119% of revenue in fiscal 2015, Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report. The results, based on compliance with new GASB 68 accounting rules, set a new ANPL baseline and are poised to rise for the next two fiscal years as market returns fall below annual targets.

“The median return for public pension plans in FY 2016 was 0.52% compared to an average assumed investment return of 7.5%,” Moody’s Vice President — Senior Credit Officer Marcia Van Wagner says. “We project that aggregate state ANPL will grow to $1.75 trillion in FY 2017 audits.”

The states with the highest pension burdens — measured as the largest three-year average ANPL as a percent of state governmental revenue — were consistent with previous years. Illinois topped the list with pension liabilities at 280% of total governmental revenue, followed by Connecticut (Aa3 negative) at 209%, Alaska (Aa2 negative) at 179%, Kentucky at 162%, and New Jersey at 157%.

Given that pretty much every state pension is now underfunded, Moody’s introduced a new metric which they referred to as the “Tread Water” benchmark. The largest underfunded plans in Kentucky, Illinois and New Jersey would require an incremental 7 – 7.5% of annual state revenue for contributions in order to simply stop unfunded liabilities from growing further. (Read more from “These State Pensions Are Most Likely to Enforce Benefit Cuts” HERE)

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Man Wearing Bill Clinton ‘Rape’ Shirt Appears Behind Hillary During Rally

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A man attending a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Detroit on Monday appeared behind her wearing a T-shirt with an image of former President Bill Clinton along with the word “Rape.”

Once the man was spotted, he was escorted from the rally by security officers, falling down the stairs right behind Clinton. Some observers believed he had been pushed.

When she realized what was going on, Clinton said, “You know, I do hope somebody follows that gentleman out and stages an intervention. He clearly has not been following this election very closely.”

The Bill Clinton “Rape” image, found on T-shirts and posters, and similar words and images have been seen at various venues recently.

A man wearing a shirt bearing the slogan attended a recent campaign appearance by Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine. The man interrupted Kaine’s speech by shouting “Bill Clinton is a rapist” several times.

A poster warning about “rapist” Bill Clinton was seen outside the campus of Washington University in St. Louis before the second presidential debate. The poster showed Clinton holding a small sign bearing the names of several women he has been accused of sexually assaulting.

On Wednesday, Bill Clinton was in Canton, Ohio, giving a speech when a woman carrying a T-shirt that read “BILL CLINTON A RAPIST” walked past the members of the press. As she passed them she remarked, “Bill Clinton is a rapist.”

After the woman was removed by security, Clinton said, “I love it when people come to my rallies.”

Texas talk show host Alex Jones recently offered up to $5,000 to any listener successful in interrupting a live television broadcast by showing up in one of the T-shirts and shouting, “Bill Clinton is a rapist.”

A young man succeeded when he interrupted a segment of Fox and Friends.

Security arrived to extract the man from the area, but he was able to briefly get free. The young man could be heard saying, “Get your hands off me,” as security was able to subdue him.

Since Friday’s leak of a tape revealing Republican nominee Donald Trump made vulgar remarks about a married woman in 2005, he has increased the spotlight on Bill Clinton’s alleged sexual misconduct.

Before the presidential debate Sunday, he posted a video in which he was surrounded by women — Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broddrick — who have accused Clinton of rape or inappropriate behavior. Kathy Shelton, a rape victim whose alleged attacker was represented by a young Hillary Clinton, was also in attendance.

Trump later said during the debate, “If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine are words, and his was action. His was what he’s done to women. There’s never been anybody in the history politics in this nation that’s been so abusive to women. So you can say any way you want to say it, but Bill Clinton was abusive to women.” (For more from the author of “Man Wearing Bill Clinton ‘Rape’ Shirt Appears Behind Hillary During Rally” please click HERE)

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Leaked Memo Shows Democrats Targeting Trump Before He Was a Candidate, Manipulating Election

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Donald Trump was a political target of the Democratic National Committee two months before he officially joined the 2016 presidential race, according to an email released by WikiLeaks on Monday.

The April 7, 2015, email from Hillary Clinton’s campaign to the DNC is designed to help make anyone nominated by the Republican Party “unpalatable” to the voters. It states that the goals of the Clinton campaign and the DNC are “one and the same.”

The email labels as “Pied Piper” candidates three men who, the campaign believes, would move the GOP in a direction that would make it hard for Clinton to lose the presidential race. The memo lists the eventual GOP nominee as well as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as “Pied Pipers.” At that point, only Cruz had publicly said he was running for the White House.

“[W]e don’t want to marginalize the candidates, but make them more ‘Pied Piper’ candidates who actually represent the mainstream Republican Party,” the memo says.

It says Democrats should work with the media to boost such candidates.

“We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to [take] them seriously,” the memo reads.

The memo also suggests three overall approaches to protect Clinton. They are:

1) Force all Republican candidates to lock themselves into extreme conservative positions that will hurt them in a general election;
2) Undermine any credibility/trust Republican presidential candidates have to make inroads to our coalition or independents;
3) Muddy the waters on any potential attack lodged against HRC.

The memo suggests that Democrats should “use the [Republican primary] field as a whole to inflict damage on itself similar to what happened to Mitt Romney in 2012. The variety of candidates is a positive here, and many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right.”

After suggesting starting points to “undermine” the more establishment candidates the DNC expected to be running, the memo called for the start of a wide-ranging development of material to use against the GOP’s candidates.

“As we all know, the right wing attack machine has been building its opposition research on Hillary Clinton for decades,” the memo reads.

“The RNC et al has been telegraphing they are ready to attack and do so with reckless abandon. One way we can respond to these attacks is to show how they boomerang onto the Republican presidential field. The goal, then, is to have a dossier on the GOP candidates on the likely attacks HRC will face.”

Those areas were “transparency & disclosure; donors & associations; and management & business dealings.”

The DNC memo says, in essence, that all dirt was good dirt.

“In this regard, any information on scandals or ethical lapses on the GOP candidates would serve well. We won’t be picky. Again, we think our goals mirror those of the DNC,” the memo adds. (For more from the author of “Leaked Memo Shows Democrats Targeting Trump Before He Was a Candidate, Manipulating Election” please click HERE)

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Ryan Tells Republicans He Will Focus on House Races, Won’t Help Trump

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House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., told fellow Republicans on Monday that he has washed his hands of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and will focus on maintaining the Republican majority in the House.

“The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities,” said AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman.

According to those involved with the call, Ryan said he will not defend Trump or in any way support the billionaire’s campaign. He also said that he will not publicly withdraw his endorsement of Trump.

Ryan said he will devote “his entire energy making sure that Hillary Clinton does not get a blank check with a Democrat-controlled Congress,” the Associated Press reported, taking Ryan’s means to words he does not believe Trump can defeat Clinton in November.

As for other members of the House, Ryan told them “to do what’s best for you in your district,” the Associated Press reported.

Republicans currently hold the majority in both houses of Congress. Throughout the campaign, Republican leaders have worried whether a lackluster showing on Election Day for Trump could put those majorities at risk.

The Republican National Committee is also having a conference call with its members on Monday.

Ryan issued a statement Friday condemning Trump’s conduct in a leaked 2005 video in which Trump spoke graphically about his pursuits of women.

“Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified,” Ryan said Friday. “I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests.”

Since that video was leaked, many Republicans have withdrawn their support for Trump.

CNN reported that during the call, Ryan’s decision to back away from Trump was met with disapproval by some congressmen. Ryan then made it clear that although he would keep his distance from the presidential campaign, he would not publicly break with his party’s nominee.

Earlier Monday, Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, told CBS This Morning that she hoped Ryan would stand by Trump. She also said that Republicans abandoning Trump may have a political price to pay, noting that Ryan was booed by Trump supporters over the weekend after disinviting Trump from an event in the wake of the controversial video’s release. (For more from the author of “Ryan Tells Republicans He Will Focus on House Races, Won’t Help Trump” please click HERE)

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Donald Trump Charges, Hillary Fades in Second Debate

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Good news, America: Contrary to the tension and expectation at the start, the earth didn’t open up under the last night’s debate stage, and send the candidates and the country into the fiery flames.

In fact, what started with high dread and more mud than a monster truck competition ended with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton complimenting each other. And in between they actually talked a little bit about policy.

However, most importantly, Donald Trump showed why he was able to write a book called The Art of the Comeback. In fact, his Secret Service code name might well have to be changed to Lazarus. What was supposed to be Trump’s political funeral instead may have brought his campaign back to life. “Donald Trump Lives,” blares the headline from Forbes.

“The Question”

Going into the debate, nothing less than the future of the election was at stake in the wake of a firestorm over a 2005 video of crude-talking Donald Trump.

There would be no talk of ISIS or taxes, and certainly not private servers and open borders, until the matter was addressed. How would Donald Trump handle the controversy? With contrition or with combativeness? Could he take a rotten lemon of a story and turn it into Trump lemonade?

Well … a nervous Donald Trump picked up the lemon, apologized for it, said he was embarrassed about it, and then proceeded to lob it at Hillary like a grenade. He brought up the woman who’ve accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault, and one raped by one of Hillary’s clients.

Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously. Four of them here tonight. One of the women, who is a wonderful woman, at 12 years old, was raped at 12. Her client she represented got him off, and she’s seen laughing on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped.

The four had taken part in a stunning press conference with Trump before the debate.

Anderson Cooper would bring the video up again, accusing Trump of having committed sexual assault. Trump again insisted it was “locker room talk,” again said he was embarrassed, denied assaulting anyone, and the issue at least for the night was as good as dead.

Trump Beyond The Video

Trump survived “the question,” and then got busy. He spent the rest of the debate prowling the stage, controlling the conversation, not letting Hillary or the moderators make a move against him without a comeback.

Trump pounded on Clinton for the “33,000 emails that you had deleted and that you acid-washed” after they had been subpoenaed. He made several appeals to Sanders voters, reminding them of what Hillary and the DNC had done to their guy and how Sanders repeatedly attacked her “bad judgement.”

Trump promised to launch an investigation of her if elected. Hillary replied, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the laws in our country.” “Because you’d be in jail,” Trump said.

When Clinton said “I take classified material very seriously,” Trump replied “Yet she didn’t know that ‘C’ meant classified.”

And Trump had the best line of any of the debates this year.

A questioner challenged Hillary on the WikiLeaks transcript where she talks about how it’s fine to say one thing in private and tell voters something else. “Is it OK for politicians to be two-faced?” “As I recall,” Hillary said, “that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie called Lincoln.”

At his first opportunity, Trump pounced: “She lied, now she’s blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln.” He went on. “Honest Abe never lied. That’s the good thing. That’s the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”

While Trump did get into policy at times, as in his discussion of his tax policy, and fact-checkers are sleeping in this morning after a long, busy night, that was hardly the point of the evening. Donald Trump had one goal last night: to emerge still standing. He did more than that. Partisans can bicker over the particulars, but Trump owned the room and he delivered under enormous pressure.

Hillary Clinton

Did Hillary Clinton have a bad night? Only to the extent she didn’t kill the wounded beast.

She gave her typically deep, involved policy answers on matters such as Syria, energy and taxes. She admitted there were problems with Obamacare, offered her suggestions and when it was noted her husband called Obamacare the “craziest thing,” she brushed it off like lint on her pantsuit.

Clinton eloquently defended her years of public service, talking about her decades of work assisting families and children. (She left out the rapists.)

Hillary also defended her private server use by saying there’s no proof anyone actually hacked into it. Neither the moderators nor Trump pointed out that while “no harm, no foul” is okay for pick-up basketball, that’s not the case with national secrets.

She repeated her tactic of showing bemusement at Trump’s answers, denying his words have any truth to them. She even said at one time, “There he goes again.”

Which gets to this fun fact: During the course of the debate, Clinton evoked Lincoln, quoted Reagan and praised Bush. Meaning, Hillary Clinton had more nice things to say about Republicans last night than Donald Trump.

Yet there was a problem: Sunday night she was the Hillary Clinton often seen on the campaign trail: Wonkish and somewhat weary.

Clinton was clearly not as sharp or energetic or effective as she was in the first debate, and seemed to tire as the debate went on. While Trump bounced around the stage the whole time like a gangsta rapper Hillary tended to sit when she wasn’t speaking. She seemed content to let Trump talk rather than engage him. And her attacks weakly drifted through the auditorium like campaign balloons.

In fact, as Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz interjected themselves more and more into the debate against Trump, Clinton seemed to become an afterthought. (Were Cooper and Raddatz simply biased or was it something more interesting? I’ll answer that later today.)

Finally, to the amusement of the Twittersphere, Hillary had the misfortune of having a fly land on her forehead while delivering an answer.

The Good News

The debate opened in an atmosphere so tense it made bomb-disposal work feel a yoga class. Fortunately it didn’t stay that way. The spirit broke. Sure, Clinton and Trump said some tough things about each other, but the tone grew less belligerent and almost relaxed. It’s not like they broke out into song, though it looked like it at one point.

Then came the final question from an audience member: “My question to both of you is, regardless of the current rhetoric, would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?”

“Look, I respect his children,” replied Hillary, whose daughter is indeed BFF’s with Ivanka Trump. “His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald.”

Trump also gave an earnest answer.

I will say this about Hillary. She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She’s a fighter. I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for. I do disagree with her judgment in many cases. But she does fight hard, and she doesn’t quit, and she doesn’t give up. And I consider that to be a very good trait.

At the end of the debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton shook hands, which they pointedly did not do at the start of the debate.

Who won? The Frank Lunz focus group of undecideds gave it to Donald Trump by more than a two-to-one margin. It was enough of a win for Lunz to declare Trump back in the race.

The third and final Presidential debate takes place Wednesday, October 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The moderator is Chris Wallace of Fox News. What happens in Vegas definitely will not stay in Vegas; we can only pray it stays out of the gutter. (For more from the author of “Donald Trump Charges, Hillary Fades in Second Debate” please click HERE)

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Why All the Fuss Over the Trump Sex-Comments Tape?

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I’m not writing this to defend Donald Trump or to minimize the despicable nature of his comments captured on video in 2005. Not a chance.

Nor am I writing this to convince NeverTrumpers to vote for him.

My own wife, Nancy, has told me repeatedly that she could not vote for him, despite the possibility of Hillary getting elected. (Of course, she will not vote for Hillary either.)

Instead, I’m writing this to ask those who once supported Trump, like my highly esteemed, Christian brother Wayne Grudem, a fellow-professor and theologian, why the video tape changed things.

Prof. Grudem wrote, “There is no morally good presidential candidate in this election. I previously called Donald Trump a ‘good candidate with flaws’ and a ‘flawed candidate’ but I now regret that I did not more strongly condemn his moral character. I cannot commend Trump’s moral character, and I strongly urge him to withdraw from the election.”

Certainly, I commend Prof. Grudem for his integrity and for acknowledging what he now feels was an erroneous endorsement of Trump. In fact, just a few days ago, I wrote a piece questioning whether I will endorse another candidate in the future, having previously endorsed Sen. Cruz.

But my issue is simply this: Why the surprise now? Did anyone really think the tape misrepresented who he was in 2005 and who he likely continued to be.? Did any of us think that he didn’t sexualize women, that he didn’t lean into his star power, that he didn’t boast about his many (alleged) sexual trysts? Why the outrage and shock now?

Even if Trump changed in certain ways since 2005 — perhaps he has been more faithful to Melania and more involved with their kids — the character he displayed throughout the election process indicated some very deep, moral flaws, making him the least likely poster boy for the evangelical right.

During the primaries, I issued numerous words of warning and concern about Donald Trump, in writing, on radio, and on video, also making clear that these warnings were in the context of the primaries, when we had other, more viable candidates for president. (Obviously, this was simply my opinion.)

Once it came to Trump vs. Hillary, my posture has been that I cannot vote for Hillary but that Trump could earn my vote, and that remains my position until today.

I would like to be able to vote for him, and I do hope that he will heed the godly advice that is being given to him and learn to humble himself before God and people. But his failings and flaws are such that I still have concerns about helping to elect him as president, despite the dire possibility of a Hillary presidency.

But these are just my personal opinions, and I do not write this to persuade or to influence. My purpose in writing is to ask those who once backed Trump but do so no longer: Why the surprise at his past conduct? Weren’t his weaknesses and flaws shouting aloud to the nation over the last year via tweet and spoken word?

I never for a moment bought into the “Saint Donald” rhetoric, questioning other Christian leaders who embraced him as such. (I don’t mean to deny that he has helped people privately and has a compassionate, caring side. I simply mean that to present him as a wonderfully Christian man is to be self-deceived.)

And I understand the convictions of the NeverTrumpers, although I have never identified with this group. (I once used the hashtag in a tweet but decided not to do so again.)

My issue is with the political leaders and Christian leaders who endorsed Donald Trump and who worked to help elect him but are now distancing themselves from him in shock and dismay. Who did you think you were dealing with?

I know he can be gracious and humble in person, and there are surely many positive qualities about him.

But if you’re going to endorse him, do so with your eyes wide open, or don’t endorse him at all.

The man who once boasted about his adulterous encounters with famous women and who opened a casino with a massive strip club inside but felt he didn’t need to ask God for forgiveness is the man you endorsed for president.

Had he renounced with shame his past life, that would be one thing.

Had he not insulted and degraded his political opponents (and other perceived opponents) in the most vile and cruel ways, crushing them at any cost so that he could advance politically, that would be one thing as well.

But he did not renounce his past or change his public ways, because of which, the only issue with the 2005 tape should not have been the tape itself but rather how he responded to it today.

I have colleagues who believe that God is raising up Trump the way He raised up Cyrus, pointing out that Cyrus was used by the Lord although he was a pagan king who did not know the God of Israel (see Isaiah 45:1-6, and note carefully the phrase “although you do not know Me” in v. 5-6).

I have no problem with this concept at all. As the old saying goes, let God be God (in other words, let Him do what He chooses to do in His way and for His purposes). So be it. As I’ve written before, I personally hope it’s true.

But for those who are having cold feet about Trump now, I ask again: Wasn’t it clear from day one that this was the man you were endorsing?

For all of us, then, from here on in, the lesson is simple and clear: Whatever we do, let’s do it with our eyes wide open and with our trust in God alone. (For more from the author of “Why All the Fuss Over the Trump Sex-Comments Tape?” please click HERE)

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Hillary’s Young Town Hall Questioner Sure Looks Like a Plant

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…Did Hillary Clinton use a teenage girl as a plant at her Tuesday town hall in Haverford, Pennsylvania? The question that kicked off the event, as Alex Griswold of Mediaite observed, was just a little too perfect, and aligned itself flawlessly with Clinton’s recent ads attacking Donald Trump’s alleged offensive comments about women.

The 15-year-old Brennan Leach, who had a conspicuous red bow in her hair, was selected to ask the first question. “At my school, body image is a really big issue for girls my age,” she said, reported the New York Times. “I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look.” She went on to ask how Clinton could help girls understand “that they are so much more than just what they look like?”

YouTuber Spanglevision questioned the randomness of the girl and her question, decided to investigate further, and discovered several interesting tidbits of information. (Note: The video contains mildly offensive language).

Brennan Leach is a child actor and the daughter of Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Daylin Leach. Incidentally, Senator Leach is a Hillary Clinton endorser and campaign donor. What’s more, Brennan admitted right after the Town Hall that her father helped her write the question.

Interestingly, the camera focuses on Brennan two minutes before she asks her question and she appears very nervous. Spanglevision said this is likely a camera test letting her know she needs to be ready, but why would she need to be ready if participants were chosen at random? The host, Elizabeth Banks, “randomly” picks her out of the crowd with a pert “How about you, with the little red bow?” Brennan then reads her question. She is the only participant to use a script.

When Hillary excitedly jumps up to answer the question, she says, “Thank you!” and “I think Chelsea also wants to say something about this!” She could not know whether Chelsea would want to say something about it — unless it was pre-planned.

While the Clinton campaign denies Brennan was a plant— and anything is possible — it’s not like Clinton hasn’t pulled a stunt like this before. According to Mediaite, Hillary’s campaign was forced to apologize in 2007 for “feeding question[s] to Iowa college students to ask during a rally.” MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported in 1999 that Hillary Clinton used a “prearranged question from a friendly union leader” during her New York Senate run. And according to The Associated Press, as late as this year, Clinton conducted a “careful, behind-the-scenes effort to review introductory remarks … as well as suggesting questions that happened to be aligned with her campaign platform.”

It isn’t difficult to see how Brennan could have been used to further Hillary Clinton’s purpose. It remains to be seen if the pattern continues at Sunday night’s town hall presidential debate. Half of the questions will come from participants. How many will come with scripts? (For more from the author of “Hillary’s Young Town Hall Questioner Sure Looks Like a Plant” please click HERE)

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