Leaked Emails: Hillary Claimed Terror, Russia Not ‘Threats’

Terrorism is not a national threat, Hillary Clinton told an affluent audience in a paid speech to the Global Business Travelers Association in 2013.

Clinton was paid $225,000 for the Aug. 7, 2013, speech. In it, she said the nation is not threatened by terrorism, even after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, according to an excerpt uncovered in a fresh round of hacked emails published from Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta by WikiLeaks Monday.

“[Terrorism is] not a threat to us as a nation,” Clinton said. “It is not going to endanger our economy or our society.”

The threat is more aimed at individuals — especially those abroad, she suggested.

“It’s not a threat to us as a nation,” Clinton said. “It is not going to endanger our economy or our society, but it is a real threat.  It is a danger to our citizens here at home, and as we tragically saw in Boston, and to those living, working, and traveling abroad.”

The rise of home-grown terrorism by ISIS, within U.S. borders and in Europe and Asia, proved Clinton wrong rather quickly.

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So perhaps Clinton agrees with President Obama’s generals that the largest geopolitical threat to the United States is a more aggressive Russia. Well … no.

Clinton apparently doesn’t agree with many of President Obama’s generals who see Russia as a geopolitical national threat: “We don’t believe that there will be a threat from Russia.”

Clinton made the remarks in another paid speech, speaking before Sanford Bernstein, an investment research firm, on May 29, 2013. Clinton predicted she could work Putin for peace.

This is a major break from the Obama administration thinking, and an odd statement for a former secretary of state to make. Russia would later annex Crimea and force the U.S. Army to begin stepping up NATO training exercises in Europe.

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In 2013, Clinton assured a moneyed audience she and Putin got along.

“I last saw [Russian President Vladimir Putin] in Vladivostok where I represented President Obama in September for the Asia-Pacific economic community.  I sat next to him,” Clinton said. “He’s an engaging and … very interesting conversationalist. We talked about a lot of issues that were not the hot-button issues between us … his view on missile defense, which we think is misplaced because, you know, we don’t believe that there will be a threat from Russia. But we think that both Russia and the United States are going to face threats from their perimeter, either from rogue states like Iran or from terrorist groups, [and] that’s not the way he sees it.”

The leaked emails are bound to complicate the general election for Clinton, whose team is confident she is ahead of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, even after Sunday’s second debate. But saying twice in 2013 that there is no threat from terrorism or Russia is bound to become a Trump talking point.