Hillary Clinton Paid Female Employees Less Than Males [Report]

Hillary Clinton reportedly paid the female staffers in her U.S. Senate office 28 percent less than men.

This revelation could complicate Clinton’s ability to make income inequality a cornerstone of her potential presidential campaign in 2016.

As a U.S. Senator representing New York and after leaving office, Clinton championed closing the pay gap between men and women, as evidenced by the tweet embedded below, which appears to reference approximately the same differential that existed in her own office while she was an elected federal official.

Assuming the accuracy of the calculations, it turns out that Hillary Clinton apparently paid women 72 cents for every dollar earned by men under her employ from 2002 to 2008, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

“During those years, the median annual salary for a woman working in Clinton’s office was $15,708.38 less than the median salary for a man, according to the analysis of data compiled from official Senate expenditure reports.”

The Clinton Foundation has yet to issue a statement in response to the alleged pay disparity. So far, no salary information has emerged in connection with her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State.

Pay discrimination on the basis of gender has been illegal under federal law since 1963.

Mrs. Clinton has also come under rhetorical fire for accepting millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments for the Clinton Foundation and also raking in about $81 million for the organization from seven individual donors via a Swiss bank allegedly used by one-percenters as a tax dodge. That she charges a six-figure fee for each speech made to a corporate or Wall Street group has also raised eyebrows across the ideological spectrum.

You may recall that in April 2014, the Obama administration’s focus on the so-called gender pay gap during Equal Pay Day went sideways when it was revealed that women who work at the White House earn 88 cents on the dollar as compared to men, i.e., 12 percent less than their male counterparts.

During last night’s Academy Awards ceremony, Boyhood best supporting actress winner Patricia Arquette spoke out in favor wage equality for working moms in her acceptance speech.

20 years ago, women made 72 cents on the dollar to men. Today it's still just 77 cents. More work to do. #EqualPay #NoCeilings

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 9, 2014

In assessing the alleged pay gap in the ex-Senator’s office, the American Enterprise Institute opined that Hillary Clinton has some explaining to do.

“[E]ither: a) there are gender pay differences throughout the entire economy and in any organization including [Clinton’s] Senate staff, which can be explained by factors other than gender discrimination including age, years of continuous work experience, level of education, number of hours worked, marital status, number of children, workplace environment and workplace safety, industry differences, etc., or b) any gender pay gap in aggregate, unadjusted salaries automatically exposes gender discrimination…”

According to the Washington Post, Hillary Clinton will be relying on “President Obama’s heavily male campaign apparatus” as she edges closer to officially launching a run for the White House.

[Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images Entertainment]