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NBC’s Andrea Mitchell Under Fire For Claiming Clinton Rape Accuser Has Been Discredited

By Oliver VanDervoort
Published on: 05:30 PST, May 22, 2016

Andrea Mitchell might pride herself on being above taking sides in political arguments, but this weekend, there have been several claims from right-wing websites and blogs which claim the NBC news personality is showing her true colors. At the heart of the story is Mitchell’s assertion that a woman who claimed Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 has had her story “discredited.” Those on both sides of the aisle have recently started to wonder whether the story was discredited at all, or simply went away because they were made against a sitting president who was well liked by a large portion of the country.

Appearing on the Today, show Andrea Mitchell aired a segment where Donald Trump talked to Sean Hannity about the allegations. During the segment, Hannity and Trump discussed whether or not Bill Clinton’s infidelities and accusations against him were fair game to be brought up against Hillary Clinton. Hannity made the comment that in one case it’s about exposure and in another instance it’s about it’s about “groping and fondling and touching against a woman’s will.” It was at this point where Trump interjected “and rape.”

The woman who made the allegations, Juanita Broaddrick, came out in 1999 at the height of the investigation into what sort of hanky panky was going on in Bill Clinton’s White House. Broaddrick claimed Clinton raped her in a hotel room back when he was the Arkansas Attorney General. After coming out in 1999, she has remained mostly silent about the issue. When it became apparent Hillary Clinton was going to win the Democratic nomination, Broaddrick sent out a single tweet. This tweet has drawn quite a bit of attention from members of the liberal and conservative press, including Mitchell and Mitchell’s network.

Mitchell has not been above the fray when it comes to trying to talk to Broaddrick. Mitchell and Mitchell’s production team reached out to the woman shortly after the accusation resurfaced and even sent a producer to talk with her on camera, according to the Daily Caller. Despite Mitchell at one time desperately wanting to put Broaddrick on her airwaves, Mitchell is now claiming looking into this story is little more than a waste of time.

“Donald Trump using that word unprompted, during an interview last night with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Bringing up a discredited and long-denied accusation against former president Bill Clinton, dating back to 1978 when he was Arkansas Attorney General.”

Mitchell told the Today show. Andrea Mitchell didn’t go on to say just how Broaddrick had been discredited, though her tale is a bit of a winding road. Mitchell is likely thinking about the fact that shortly after the woman came forward and claimed she had been raped by Bill Clinton, she filled out an affidavit claiming the sex had been consensual, and she had been wrong to call the situation rape. What Mitchell seems to be conveniently forgetting is shortly after that affidavit, Broaddrick was interviewed by the FBI.

During that interview, she changed her story again, and said she had been wrong to sign the affidavit. At the very least, Mitchell seems to be attributing claims that Broaddrick was discredited to a memory of events that didn’t take place. This is why Mitchell has recently come under quite a bit of fire from the right wing. Andrea Mitchell has also drawn fire because Bill Clinton’s accuser seems to be trying to get the investigation started once again.

Mitchell is seemingly ignoring the fact that there were plenty of people who believed some accusations were pushed under the rug, both by Republicans and Democrats in an attempt to get the Bill Clinton messiness behind the country. Her memory of Broaddrick being discredited seems odd, considering Mitchell was covering the news while this was going on. Until Andrea Mitchell admits the accusations were never actually discredited, it seems unlikely sites like the Daily Caller are going to let up.

[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]

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