Hillary Clinton expresses regret over decision not to fire 2008 faith adviser accused of sexual harassment

On Tuesday evening, Hillary Clinton quietly addressed reports that she protected her 2008 presidential campaign faith adviser after a female staffer accused him of sexual harassment. In a Facebook post that went up just before millions of Americans turned their attention to President Trump's first State of the Union address, Clinton wrote: "I very much understand the question I'm being asked as to why I let an employee on my 2008 campaign keep his job despite his inappropriate workplace behavior. The short answer is this: If I had to do it again, I wouldn't."

Clinton explained her thinking "at the time," including that she believes "in second chances." Clinton additionally wrote that "for most of my life, harassment wasn't something talked about or even acknowledged" but "that's changing, and it's a good thing." She added that she has reached out to the accuser, who is unnamed in The New York Times' original report, and "she was glad that her accusations were taken seriously, that there was a clear process in place for dealing with harassment, and that it was followed."

Clinton's former faith adviser, Burns Strider, was accused by the 30-year-old campaign staffer of "[rubbing] her shoulders inappropriately, [kissing] her on the forehead, and [sending] her a string of suggestive emails." Read more about the allegations here, and read Clinton's response in full here.

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