Colmes rebutted Morris' false and contradictory attacks against Clinton

On Hannity & Colmes, Dick Morris repeated his false assertion that Sen. Hillary Clinton “sat on the board of the New World Foundation that gave a grant to the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by [Yassir] Arafat, which, back then, was identified as a terrorist group.” However, as co-host Alan Colmes pointed out, in 1999, the Jewish daily Forward reported that the New World Foundation “granted funds to Grassroots International, which in turn funneled the money to two PLO-affiliated groups.” Colmes stated: “If money was diverted, she didn't know anything about it. ... You're drawing a parallel line here which does not exist.”

On the April 21 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Fox News contributor Dick Morris repeated his false assertion that Sen. Hillary Clinton “sat on the board of the New World Foundation that gave a grant to the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] headed by [Yassir] Arafat, which, back then, was identified as a terrorist group.” Co-host Alan Colmes responded: “Well, let me point out to you the June 11th, 1999, Jewish daily Forward reported the New World Foundation granted funds to something called Grassroots International which, in turn, funneled money to two PLO-affiliated groups. And Hillary Clinton says the grant was made for $10,000 to Grassroots International for a specific project in South Africa. If money was diverted, she didn't know anything about it, and you know, it was at least one or two steps removed here. You're drawing a parallel line here which does not exist.”

Indeed, as Media Matters for America noted, according to a September 19, 2000, Washington Times article, the New World Foundation “donated $15,000 to a group called Grassroots International, which at the time was giving money to two Palestinian groups with ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization -- the Union of Palestinian Working Women's Committees and the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees.” The June 11, 1999, edition of the Jewish daily the Forward reported that the New World Foundation “granted funds to Grassroots International, which in turn funneled the money to two PLO-affiliated groups.” Furthermore, an October 16, 1992, Baltimore Jewish Times article (via Nexis) reported that Clinton responded to “published charges” that the New World Foundation “awarded a grant to an organization that contributed to Palestine Liberation Organization projects on the West Bank.” From the Jewish Times article:

“As I recall,” she said, “the grant was made for 10,000 to Grassroots International for a specific project in South Africa. If the money was diverted, I knew nothing about it, and to this day I know nothing about it other than the media stories.”

Later in the Hannity & Colmes segment, Colmes said to Morris: “You, on this show last time you're on, basically called her a communist, yet in Rewriting History, you said Hillary was no communist, nor should her work for the law firm as an intern or as a student imply that she was. Tonight, you've practically called her a terrorist sympathizer.” Colmes was referring to Morris' appearance on the April 14 edition of Hannity & Colmes, during which Morris discussed Clinton's 1971 internship with the California-based law firm Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein, and asserted that Clinton was a “law student defending the Black Panther Party, and then she worked in a communist law firm.” When Colmes then asked Morris, “Well, does it make Hillary a communist?” Morris replied, “No, at that time, at that point in her life, she may well have been.” But Morris previously wrote in his book, Rewriting History (ReganBooks, 2004), that “Hillary was no Communist, nor should her work in the Treuhaft firm imply that she was.”

From the April 21 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

MORRIS: What I want to talk about is that the [William] Ayers connection is a -- is one that[Sen. Barack] Obama needs to explain. But Hillary's connections with terrorists --

COLMES: Here we go.

MORRIS -- are far, far more extensive. In 1980s, Hillary sat on the board of the New World Foundation that gave a grant to the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by Arafat, which, back then, was identified as a terrorist group. And then in 1996, she had a reception at the White House organized by the American Muslim Association. And Steve Emerson, who you've had on your show, who is really the expert on domestic terrorism, said curiously nearly all of the leaders with whom Mrs. Clinton elected to meet came from Islamic fundamentalist organizations. And he said that AMA has sanctioned terrorism, published anti-Semitic statements, and repeatedly hosted conferences that were forms for denunciation of Jews and exhortations to jihad.

Then in 2000, Hillary got a $50,000 contribution from the American Muslim Association --

COLMES: Uh-huh.

MORRIS: -- that somehow or other got listed on her form as the American Museum Association. And by the time they discovered what it was and she had to give back the money, it was a week before Election Day and she couldn't use soft money anyway.

COLMES: By the way, Dick, let me just --

MORRIS: Now, those connections to terrorists are a whole lot more significant than Barack Obama's connection with Ayers.

COLMES: Well, let me point out to you the June 11th, 1999, Jewish daily Forward reported the New World Foundation granted funds to something called Grassroots International, which, in turn, funneled money to two PLO-affiliated groups. And Hillary Clinton says the grant was made for $10,000 to Grassroots International for a specific project in South Africa.

If money was diverted, she didn't know anything about it, and you know, it was at least one or two steps removed here. You're drawing a parallel line here which does not exist.

MORRIS: Well, let's add that to the list of the things Hillary didn't know about.

[...]

SEAN HANNITY (co-host): Right. No, I agree with that. But the new narrative has emerged: Barack Obama, the one hopeful, optimistic, new, change politician, the perceptions of him have changed because of the revelations in the last six weeks. Is he now the weaker candidate? I believe he is.

MORRIS: I would have to say right now he is the weaker candidate, because -- Hillary does have a point, which is she's been so mendacious in the past that we know all of the rotten things about her; whereas with Obama, this is all new and shocking and interesting.

[crosstalk]

COLMES: You're unbelievable, Dick. You're really --

HANNITY: No, let him talk.

COLMES: You really are unbelievable.

HANNITY: That was great. Keep going.

COLMES: Yeah, of course.

MORRIS: So, I think that, ultimately, Obama would be the weaker of the two candidates.

COLMES: All right. That's nicest thing you've ever said about Hillary. But, Dick, let me -- we only have a second left here. Look, John Hume, former member of Parliament, architect of the Good Friday Agreement, says that he's surprised anybody would suggest Hillary Clinton didn't perform important foreign policy work.

You, on this show, last time you were on, basically called her a communist, yet in Rewriting History, you said Hillary was no communist, nor should her work for the law firm as an intern or as a student imply that she was. Tonight, you've practically called her a terrorist sympathizer. How could you possibly have worked for such a horrible human being, Dick, as Hillary Clinton? How could you have worked for such a terrible person?

MORRIS: Well, let's go back to John Hume. I'm a friend of John Hume's, Nobel Prize winner, and when I vacation in Ireland, he lives right nearby and we frequently, three or four times, had dinner together. On one of those occasions, Hillary was in Ireland and Bill was in Ireland; they were giving separate speeches in separate venues. And he and I talked at length about Bill Clinton's enormously positive contribution to the Irish peace process. And the man said not word one about Hillary, and she was giving a speech less than 50 miles from where we were sitting having dinner. Now, as to the points that you're making there, I did not know when I worked for Bill Clinton in '95 and '96 that I -- that would mean I'd have to support his heirs and assigns. I believe that Hillary Clinton --

COLMES: Yeah, but you praise her in all your books. You praise her in Behind the Oval Office.

MORRIS: -- is not qualified as Bill Clinton.

COLMES: You even praise her in Rewriting History.

MORRIS: I think that Hillary -- I think that Hillary Clinton is not qualified, as Bill Clinton was qualified, to be president. And I didn't work for Hillary Clinton; I worked for Bill Clinton. And the last I checked, that was the name on the ballot in 1996 that I worked for.