On Hannity & Colmes, Morris touted Clinton film without bringing up his reported ties to it
Written by Terry Krepel & Matthew Biedlingmaier
Published
On Hannity & Colmes, Dick Morris touted “a film coming out ... being produced by Citizens United ... that's probably going to come out early next year, maybe early January, I think,” that will purportedly expose Hillary Clinton's “use of private detectives in the aggressive way that she's done.” But during the segment, no one raised the issue of Morris' reported former role as a co-producer of the film with Republican activist and discredited former congressional staffer David Bossie, nor did anyone note that he will reportedly be an interview subject in it. Further, in a Newsmax column, Morris and Eileen McGann described Clinton as “the commander of the Clinton secret police” and called Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson a “KGB enforcer look-alike.”
On the November 19 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, syndicated columnist Dick Morris stated: “I think that obviously, one of the -- I mean, the main thing that I have against [Sen.] Hillary [Rodham Clinton (D-NY)] is her use of private detectives in the aggressive way that she's done.” Morris continued: “And there is a film coming out sponsored -- being produced by Citizens United ... [president] David Bossie, that's probably going to come out early next year, maybe early January, I think. And they have an interview with Jared Stern, a former Marine, who told a congressional investigator that he was hired to investigate Kathleen Willey by a former CIA operative, Bob Miller, during clandestine nighttime meeting. He won't disclose what he was hired to do, but it made him so uneasy, that he then called Willey using an alias and told her that she was in danger." Morris was referring to the film, Hillary, The Movie, a “full-length feature documentary about Senator Hillary Clinton” that, according to the film's website, “aims to expose the truth about her [Clinton's] conflicts in the past and her liberal plot for the future.” However, neither Morris nor his hosts noted reports that he once served as co-producer of the film with Bossie and that he still remains an interview subject in it.
Morris made his comments during a discussion of Robert D. Novak's November 17 nationally syndicated column, in which Novak wrote that "[a]gents of Sen. Hillary Clinton are spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent for the party's presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL], but has decided not to use it."
Further, Morris and Eileen McGann wrote in a November 19 column at the conservative website Newsmax repeating Novak's claims: “Are the Clinton secret police back on patrol? It looks like they may be making a late campaign comeback.” Morris and McGann also claimed that Clinton was “the commander of the Clinton secret police” and called Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson a "KGB enforcer look-alike." On Hannity & Colmes, apparently referring to that column, Morris said that Clinton “use[s] ... private detectives.” Co-host Sean Hannity then said to Morris, “Secret police, you call it.” Morris replied: “Secret police.”
A February 17 Gannett News Service article reported that Morris and Bossie -- a Republican activist and discredited former congressional staffer -- “are trying to raise $3.5 million to produce a movie critical of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, aiming its release for October or November -- just ahead of the 2008 presidential caucuses and primaries.” In a March 23 post on his Politico blog, Politico senior political writer Ben Smith reported that “Clinton apostate Dick Morris appears to have scaled back his involvement in 'Hillary, the Movie,' which had earlier been described as a collaboration between him and David Bossie, the longtime Clinton foe who runs Citizens United.” Smith added: “Bossie hasn't returned my calls on the subject, and Morris didn't respond to an email seeking comment.” Smith later updated his post, stating that, in an email, Morris said he “had to pull out as the producer” due to scheduling conflicts, but that he would “certainly appear in [the film] for a segment and wish[ed] the project well.” According to a second update to Smith's post, Bossie had emailed to say that “There is no debt associated with the project and, in fact, substantial funds have been raised for the movie.”
In addition to his involvement with Bossie's film, Morris served as an adviser and had offered “his treasure trove of files, documents and artifacts” to the “Counter Clinton Library,” a now-defunct project headed by Newsmax columnist John LeBoutillier with a stated mission of, as Media Matters noted, serving as “the headquarters of the Stop Hillary Now campaign.”
From Smith's March 23 Politico blog post:
The latest: Clinton apostate Dick Morris appears to have scaled back his involvement in “Hillary, the Movie,” which had earlier been described as a collaboration between him and David Bossie, the longtime Clinton foe who runs Citizens United.
As recently as last month, Morris spoke about the project in the first person plural.
The blurb on the left is from Google's cache two days ago. The one on the right is from the site today. And Morris is no longer listed as a producer, only as an interview subject.
Bossie hasn't returned my calls on the subject, and Morris didn't respond to an email seeking comment.
UPDATE: Morris emails: " I have decided that my other time commitments -- a new book -- Outrage [HarperCollins, 2007] -- which Eileen [McGann] and I have coming out at the end of May, a new book we are writing, our 3 columns each week, TV appearances, my new daily radio show, an upcoming new web site, and three foreign campaigns we are running -- make it impossible to take on the task of producing a full length movie this spring and summer, for a fall release date. There are just so many hours in a day. I found that I was holding up the production schedule and having constantly to cancel meetings, so I asked to be excused from producing the film.
“I'll certainly appear in for a segment and wish the project well, but I had to pull out as the producer.”
UPDATE 2: David Bossie emails that business is still good in anti-Hillary land. “There is no debt associated with the project and, in fact, substantial funds have been raised for the movie. My organization is not in debt.
From the November 19 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: All right, let me go to the Robert Novak column, because this goes to the heart of something you have discussed on this program and other programs at length. And the bottom line here is he reported that agents of Senator Clinton are spreading word in Democratic circles that they have -- she has, in particular, scandalous information about Barack Obama and she decided not to use it. The nature of the scandal is not being disclosed. But the word is it would make Obama look vulnerable, and she looks prudent by not releasing this.
Now, I interviewed Robert Novak earlier today. He used the term ”Nixonian" in describing the tactic that she's using. What are your thoughts?
MORRIS: Well, his reference there was that Nixon would always say, 'I'm not going to make an issue of the fact that John F. Kennedy is Catholic." But I think that obviously, one of the -- I mean, the main thing that I have against Hillary is her use of private detectives in the aggressive way that she's done.
HANNITY: Secret police, you call it.
MORRIS: Secret police. And there's a film coming out sponsored -- being produced by Citizens United --
HANNITY: David Bossie.
MORRIS: -- David Bossie, that's probably going to come out early next year, maybe early January, I think. And they have an interview with Jared Stern, a former Marine, who told a congressional investigator that he was hired to investigate Kathleen Willey by a former CIA operative, Bob Miller, during a clandestine nighttime meeting. He won't disclose what he was hired to do, but it made him so uneasy that he then called Willey using an alias and told her that she was in danger.
We have this. We have Jack Palladino being hired for $100,000 of taxpayer-funded campaign contributions in '92 to go after women. We have Linda Tripp's personnel file being outed by the White House so that the feds had to pay a $600,000 judgment to her. We have [former Clinton administration adviser] Sidney Blumenthal peddling that Monica Lewinsky was a stalker to Christopher Hitchens. We have Linda Douglas hearing about the [former Rep. Henry] Hyde [R-IL] impeachment, the Hyde scandal --
HANNITY: You believe this?
MORRIS: Of course I believe this.
ALAN COLMES (co-host): All right, Dick, I've got a lot of cleaning up here to do on some of the things -- first of all, Kathleen Willey was on this show, acknowledged that she hadn't told the truth. In her own book, she said she didn't tell the truth. Her credibility --
MORRIS: Oh, I'm not quoting Kathleen -- I'm not quoting -- I'm not quoting Kathleen Willey. I'm quoting Jared Stern --
COLMES: OK.
MORRIS: -- who said, who said, having nothing to do with Willey, that he was hired to investigate Willey. Now, who do you think would want to hire somebody to investigate Willey?
COLMES: I don't know. Do have any proof that Hillary had anything to do with it? Do you have any proof of that?
MORRIS: Oh no, none at all, Alan.
COLMES: Oh, do you?
MORRIS: Total coincidence.
COLMES: I'm just wondering if you have any proof.
MORRIS: Isn't it incredible, Alan, how Henry Hyde has an affair and the Clintons get wind of it? Monica Lewinsky is a stalker, and the Clintons peddle it. Jack Paladino happens to be hired for $100,000 --
COLMES: I just wonder -- all I'm asking for is some evidence that what you're saying has some links to Hillary Clinton.
MORRIS: The whole -- well, Jack Palladino, it was the Clinton campaign that hired him.
From Morris' and McGann's November 19 Newsmax column:
Are the Clinton secret police back on patrol?
It looks like they may be making a late campaign comeback.
In a week-end column, Robert Novak alleged that “agents” of Hillary Clinton are “spreading the word that she has scandalous information” about Barack Obama, but decided not to use it. (How considerate of her!)
Obama has come out swinging, accusing the Clinton campaign of trying to swift-boat him and demanding that Clinton either release the information or admit that there is none.
The Clinton camp is shocked that anyone would ever think that it would use such tactics!
Clinton campaign Communications Director (and KGB enforcer look-alike) Howard Wolfson claimed that the campaign had “no idea” what Novak was talking about. Absolutely!
And, as usual, Wolfson tried to turn the embarrassing issue for Hillary into a problem for Barack, claiming he was naive for believing what was in the Novak column.
“A Republican-leaning journalist runs a blind item designed to set Democrats against one another. Experienced Democrats see this for what it is. Others get distracted and thrown off their games,” Wolfson said.
Does anybody really believe that Hillary hasn't been gathering dirt on her opponents? Anyone with any experience in politics knows one thing for sure: Hillary Clinton plays the game rough and dirty -- and she has a sordid history of using private investigators to find scandals in the background of anyone who gets in her way.
While Hillary righteously lectures the candidates about mudslinging, her boys in the back room are readying the dirt to leak when she's not doing too well.
Remember in the 1992 campaign when Gennifer Flowers and other women were harassed by private detectives? The Clintons used campaign money to pay over $100,000 to private investigators to scare off the women. (Now they've learned to bury their investigative costs in lawyers bills.)
And does anyone think it was a coincidence that Republican speaker of the House and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee were outed for extra-marital affairs just at the time that the impeachment vote was about to take place?
Or that there were off the record calls to journalists from the White House accusing Monica Lewinsky of being a stalker?
And what are the odds that the recent rumors about John Edwards came from Clinton operatives?
That's how the Clintons try to obliterate their opponents, with Hillary at the helm. As she runs for commander-in-chief of the United States, she's already the commander of the Clinton secret police.