Written by howwex   

My Hillary Story


It seems the two front runners for President carry baggage that makes it difficult for me to vote for either with a good conscience, and I wish their was an alternative.

It seems politics today is about ego, greed, personal entitlements, and little to do with the welfare of the average person.

I have experienced first hand a few politicians, since I first recorded the journey of a businessman on his quest for office, chronicling his campaign for a college project back in 1969. That candidate seemed to have honor and respect then and now retired, he is revered and a sought after consultant.

These days it is hard to find a candidate who shows integrity and the courage to be honest and bridge the challenges of our diverse culture.

Some years ago I had a first hand glimpse into the workings of Hillary Clinton.

I remember this as it was yesterday.

It was early in 2004 I was involved in a creative venture with a name celebrity. The project was going to be financed by a wealthy businessman from Pakistan, who owned a business in California dealing with the blossoming wireless telecommunications industry.

After spending some time with the writer of the project, the producer and I scouted a few locations and ended our day at the office of the business man, which was a ramshackle upstairs office in his vast wherehouse, that occupied a entire block in a industrial section of town. Hugh spools of wire, machinery, trucks and other equipment filled the windowless wherehouse, and a flight of stairs led to offices, mostly empty, except for his large space, with a desk, tattered sofa and a few chairs. His 2nd hand cluttered desk was a mass of odd papers, scribbles, a table lamp with yellow Post It’s, and an empty vase. The wall adjacent was full of haphazardly framed photographs, some hanging at odd angles.

Our host beamed and motioned us to view the photos closely…. they were all of him and his family, smiling at the camera, standing next to either Bill or Hillary Clinton. Parties, at airports, next to limos, in a garden, holding an umbrella, everyone was all smiles.

Suddenly our host received a call on his flip phone, answered, and breathlessly said, “its Hillary’s personal secretary and she wants to know how many my group will be for the Bill Clinton Library Dedication”.

He quickly left the room and spoke in hushed tones just outside the door…. as we marveled at the pictures on the wall. Our host obviously was pretty close with the Clintons, and that was reassuring to us because maybe our international project would have legs due to his Clinton connection. Returning in a different mood, he excitedly told us he would be taking his wife and sons to the dedication and sitting close to the Clintons at the reception.

Towards the end of our meeting, he offered to pay me for several days of pre-production time. He took me aside and asked for a favor. I was to receive a small stipend, but his check to me was for $40,000. I was to write two of my checks, made out to HILL PAC, each for $20,000. I naively said yes. What the heck, this man is going to provide my income for the next several months, so why not honor his request? He seemed to have little interest in our project or the celebrity; it was more about channeling funds to Hillary.

I was never really a big fan of the Clintons, but in the late 1990s and early 2000’s, politics were mostly Democratic, the values of liberalism far outweighing the right, as is most apparent in the creative arts. I had once met President Ronald Regan in person, in a studio setting. I was video crew for a re-election spot. He was a gentleman to the few of us in the studio on a early Sunday morning, and read the prompter like no other person I had seen before or since. Flawless delivery on first take, and after a call to Nancy with a borrowed Secret Service flip phone, she approved his choice of tie for spot number two. Regan did not fit my idealism, but at least his convictions seemed to come from his heart and not anyone else’s. Years later Nancy corrected his stance on gays and the AIDS epidemic, which were noble, bold and the correct thing to do.

I have voted mostly Democratic, except for once checking Ross Perot, as the alternatives seemed too corporate, to mired in controversy and hypocritical rhetoric. Clinton seemed to be an OK President, until the impeachment hearings, and I did not know much about Hillary.

My mindless action of signing checks to Hillary Clinton was naïve but gave me a sense of playing the game…. after all it was not my money! I was hoping that being friends with the financier and honoring his request would give me some job security.

Several weeks later I arrived home on a sleepy suburbian street to see a white unmarked car at the curb. As soon as I opened my door two people emerged from the car, one of whom was wearing a trench coat. No one in Los Angeles wears a trench coat, and before I could really think that thru, the man and woman quickly displayed their FBI badges, and asked if they could come inside. Wow, this is exciting I thought, just like the movies, I want to watch this!

They entered and sat, he did not take off the trench coat, and the woman clutched her purse, eyes taking in everything. I’m sure she memorized how I tied my shoe, was it right over left or left over right? The man asked if I had ever written a check to HillPAC. At that moment I knew why they were in my house, and I had a sense of relief. I was innocent; a naïve worker on a creative project with a attached celebrity, and had fallen into a game played by the potential financier. “Ah ha”, I said in my best Boy Scout voice, “let me get the ledger”. As I returned to the room, the man was perusing the bookshelf, seemingly enjoying himself at the selection of books about mountains, bike riding and the IChing.

We chatted about hiking, and some other small talk, he was from a small town in Nevada and loved the outdoors. The woman never spoke. He explained that it was illegal for a corporation to donate that amount to a PAC, and I had violated the law.

They believed my story as I reiterated how I had come to write the checks, and they politely left, leaving their card on a table.

The producer called me some time later to say the project had fallen apart because the financier had been investigated and found to be corrupt in his business dealings.

Years later, I read that the financier had left the county quickly, as the FBI was about to indict him on various charges. He became a fugitive and is still on the run, but probably living large someplace in Pakistan.

I later learned that our host wanted to be appointed to a position of influence dealing with US-Pakistan relations, and his wall of Clinton photographs was evidence of his chummy relationship with Bill and Hillary. I am guessing Hillary still communicates with him, as her stint as Secretary of State probably needed some Intel that he could have provided.

This recounting really has nothing to do with Hilary’s Presential aspirations, but it does tell me that she has deceiving friends and will accept money from anyone and may take that as a favor that needs to be somehow repaid. It is common knowledge that the FBI Clinton ledger is thick. Was our project financier trying to buy himself into a appointed position?

Maybe all politicians are the same; they will take money from anyone if it is offered. Now, in 2016, I wish I had another voting option. I liked Sanders rhetoric, approach and his lack of apparent controversial tactics. The future path now is a toss up between two people, neither of whom has a shred of substance to any position they take, IMHO.




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