Bill Clinton Trying to Speed Release of White House Papers

By: Former President Clinton said late last week that a letter he wrote to the National Archives was to expedite release of his papers, not slow the process or hide anything as rivals are suggesting in criticism of his wife.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was quizzed during last week's Democratic presidential debate as to why correspondence between her and her husband from their White House years remained bottled up at the National Archives. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that was a problem for her as a candidate after "we have just gone through one of the most secretive administrations in our history."

One issue is whether Bill Clinton had sent a letter to the Archives asking that the communications not be released until 2012, and whether Hillary Clinton would lift any ban, a question raised by debate moderator Tim Russert.

"She was incidental to the letter, it was done five years ago, it was a letter to speed up presidential releases, not to slow them down," the former president told reporters on Nov. 2. "And she didn't even, didn't know what he was talking about. And now that I've described to you what the letter said, you can readily understand why she didn't know what he was talking about."

Russert's question "was breathtakingly misleading," Bill Clinton said.

In response, Barbara L. Levin, spokeswoman for NBC, said: "Tim's question was entirely on the mark."

Bill Clinton said that under the presidential documents law, he is not required to release any material until 2012.

"Unlike previous presidents, I have already released one million pages of documents, about half of which affect Hillary ? the records of the health care task force," Clinton said. The Republican National Committee said that Clinton's remarks referred not to the records of the health care task force but to records of a separate panel working on the issue, White House Health Care Interdepartmental Working Group.

Clinton spoke to reporters after delivering remarks to Microsoft Corp. employees about corporate giving in connection with his book, Giving.

Yesterday Hillary Clinton rejected charges she's being secretive about her role as first lady in trying to overhaul the nation's health care system.

"There's been some misunderstanding and some misrepresentation about what the facts are," said Clinton, the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Reporters asked Clinton about a series of charges that have been made about her since the Oct. 30 Democratic debate. She shrugged off the attacks.

"I don't think they piled onto me the other night because I'm a woman, I think they piled on to me because I'm winning," said Clinton. "That's what happens."

The New York senator accepted the endorsement of former Vice President Walter "Fritz" Mondale, who won the party's presidential nomination in 1984.

"Fritz and I were just talking about what it's like to be leading and I'm very grateful to be earning the support of a lot of people around the country," said Clinton.

Mondale recalled the attacks he took from rivals in the primary season. "People know the only chance they have is to tear you down," he said.

The Clintons have been accused of withholding documents from the period when, as first lady, she worked on health care reform.

"The National Archive controls and administers presidential records, that's what they do for every president," she said.

"My husband has not withheld a single document," said Clinton. "We have hundreds of requests that are being dealt with and are being processed as quickly as the archives can."

Republicans quickly seized on Mondale's support of Clinton, coupling it with an earlier endorsement from 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern. Calling the former candidates "landslide losers," the Republican National Committee pointed out that Mondale won only 13 electoral votes in 1984, while McGovern scored just 17 in 1972.

"Hillary Clinton's endorsement from yet another failed Democratic presidential candidate underscores concerns the American people have with her candidacy," said RNC spokesman Danny Diaz.