Citizens United responded to Hillary Clinton’s attack on the group in her New Hampshire concession speech Tuesday by publishing a parody email about the former secretary of state’s many paid speeches to special interest groups.
Written like one of many private emails Clinton received on her personal server, the parody release invites Clinton to speak before Citizens United in exchange for “whatever North Korea was going to pay Bill in 2012,” a reference to a document the group obtained last year that revealed Clinton’s husband had begun talks to deliver a paid speech in North Korea.
Clinton blasted Citizens United Tuesday after losing the New Hampshire primary to Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“Sen. Sanders and I both want to get secret, unaccountable money out of politics, and let’s remember, let’s remember, Citizens United, one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in our country’s history, was actually a case about a right-wing attack on me and my campaign,” Clinton said during her concession speech in Manchester. “A right-wing organization took aim at me and ended up damaging our entire democracy.”
Clinton was referring to a 2010 Supreme Court decision that ruled political spending a protected act of free speech. The case was sparked by Citizens United’s attempt to air on television a documentary about Clinton called “Hillary: The Movie.”
“Hillary Clinton made it clear in her angry New Hampshire concession speech last night that her top priority is to squelch free speech by amending the Constitution so that Citizens United and millions of like-minded Americans can no longer criticize her radical policies and statements,” David Bossie, president of Citizens United, told the Washington Examiner.
“We think a parody is the best response to this angry attack against Citizens United, Hillary The Movie, and all Americans who believe that more free speech is better than less,” Bossie said.
Although Clinton has raked in millions for her presidential campaign efforts through political action committees whose very existence is permitted through the Citizens United decision, she has spent much of her time on the trail attacking so-called “dark money” in politics.
She has attracted criticism from Sanders over her decision to accept $675,000 in speaking fees for just three events with Goldman Sachs executives, as well as millions more for speeches given to a variety of other special interest groups.
