The Observer has obtained the contents of a 2006 audio tape that appears to reveal then-Sen. Hillary Clinton suggesting the U.S. should have rigged the Palestinian election. "I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake," Clinton is heard telling the editorial board of The Jewish Press about the Jan. 25, 2006 election for the second Palestinian Legislative Council, in which Hamas won a victory over the U.S.-preferred Fatah. "And if we were going to push for an election," Clinton went on, "then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win."
The original tape belongs to Eli Chomsky, a former editor and staff writer for The Jewish Press, who claims to have the only copy in existence. Chomsky told The Observer, which is published by Donald Trump's son-in-law, that at the time he was surprised "anyone could support the idea — offered by a national political leader, no less — that the U.S. should be in the business of fixing foreign elections."
The news went unpublished at the time, Chomsky explained, because "The Jewish Press had this mindset that they would not want to say anything offensive about anybody … My bosses didn't think it was newsworthy at the time. I was convinced that it was and I held onto it all these years."
The tape is 45 minutes long, and contains "much that is no longer relevant," The Observer writes. You can listen below, or read more about it at The Observer. Jeva Lange