The Clinton rule of thumb.

• Author: Emord, Jonathan W.
• Position: Political Landscape - Hillary Clinton

E-MAILS RELEASED by the State Department to Judicial Watch form yet another window into Hillary Clinton's conduct in public office, one that reveals conflicts of interest that suggest the Clinton State Department granted special treatment and favors to Clinton Foundation donors and other "Friends of Bill." Ethical violations and influence peddling have been a part of the Clinton modus operandi since at least the mid 1970s when Bill Clinton served as Attorney General of Arkansas. Influence peddling and unethical conduct are, however, but one wellspring from the very dark pool we collectively may call the Clinton soul. It was from that dark pool which Hillary drew, early in her career, when she laughingly recounted her success at liberating from a long prison sentence a 41-year-old man who raped a 12year-old girl.

There perhaps is no more profound reflection of Clinton's moral ambivalence and disregard for victims than what arises from responses she gave to questions posed to her in a 1975 interview with Arkansas reporter Roy Reed. The audio recording of that interview is chilling in that it exposes a callous disregard for the welfare of a 12-year-old girl and proof of legal ethics violations.

In 1974, Clinton left Washington, D.C.--where she served as a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee's Impeachment Inquiry staff--to live with her fiance, Bill Clinton (whom she first met in 1970 at Yale Law School), and serve as the director of the University of Arkansas Law School's newly formed legal aid clinic.

Clinton was contacted by an Arkansas prosecutor who asked if she would defend Thomas Alfred Taylor, a 41-year-old man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl, Kathy Shelton. Clinton agreed to defend Taylor. Her defense proved successful, resulting in a plea deal that reduced what was a potential 30-year prison sentence to a mere 10 months in the county jail (with two months excused as already served).

Taylor had lured Shelton into a car. He violently raped her, tearing genital tissue, and he beat her repeatedly--into a coma. Following her recovery in a local hospital, Shelton was informed by physicians that her wounds made it unlikely that she would ever conceive, a diagnosis confirmed years later by another physician. Now 54, Shelton remains traumatized by the honible ordeal. She explained the relevant facts to the Daily Mail.com. As one would expect, Shelton does not have a high regard for Clinton, viewing her as anything but a sincere defender of the rights of women and children. Indeed, although in most interviews she asked not to be identified, Shelton recently went public, fearing that Hillary will be trusted by women when she claims herself a defender of women and children's rights, assertions Shelton regards as insincere.

An attorney myself, I find Clinton's actions and...