We’ve seen this one before . . . a favorite Obama-liberal media tactic used to clear out the opposition to the weakest candidate in the primary in order to set them up for defeat in the general.
Donald and Ivana Trump fight unsealing of divorce records (Politico story excerpted below the following introductory comments)
WORKED FOR OBAMA TWICE! Unsealing divorce records took out both Obama’s then leading primary opponent for the Illinois U.S. Senate nomination, and then his Republican opposition who was also leading. The Chicago Tribune did its work. You gotta admit, the Clinton’s aren’t bashful about using a bitter enemy’s (Obama) winning sleaze strategy. From an Ann Coulter column:
Let’s take a romp down memory lane and review the typical Obama campaign strategy. Obama became a U.S. senator only by virtue of David Axelrod’s former employer, the Chicago Tribune, ripping open the sealed divorce records of Obama’s two principal opponents.
One month before the 2004 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, Obama was down in the polls, about to lose to Blair Hull, a multimillionaire securities trader. But then the Chicago Tribune leaked the claim that Hull’s second ex-wife, Brenda Sexton, had sought an order of protection against him during their 1998 divorce proceedings.
Those records were under seal, but as The New York Times noted: “The Tribune reporter who wrote the original piece later acknowledged in print that the Obama camp had ‘worked aggressively behind the scenes’ to push the story.” Many people said Axelrod had “an even more significant role — that he leaked the initial story.”
Donald and Ivana Trump fight unsealing of divorce records
Donald Trump and his ex-wife Ivana are fighting an effort to unseal records of their 1990 divorce, arguing that the real estate mogul’s presidential bid is no basis for prying into court filings related to the couple’s split.
The Trumps filed separate legal briefs Tuesday in state court in Manhattan, urging a judge to reject the unsealing motion brought last month by The New York Times and newspaper chain Gannett.
“In seeking to invade the Trumps’ 26-year-old confidential matrimonial files, the Times and Gannett, as shown in Mr. Trump’s filing in opposition to their motion, rely on entirely unprecedented and erroneous arguments that are contrary to the protections afforded by the Legislature over 150 years ago,” attorney Marc Kasowitz wrote in Donald Trump’s response to the media motion.
In addition to her legal arguments against the unsealing, Ivana Trump submitted a personal affidavit with the court, pleading to keep the records private.
“I do not want the details of our divorce (most of which have already been reported extensively) to be opened up and displayed to the general public for their misinterpretation and amusement,” Ivana Trump wrote. “Donald and I currently share a warm relationship and our family should not be forced to relive this part of our past because he is running for president.”
Under New York law, divorce records are normally sealed, but can be released if a judge decides that “special circumstances” justify disclosure. . . .
The (surprisingly) fair report on the attempt by media outlets to obtain Trump’s divorce records continues in the Politico article, including comparing it to (unsuccessful) attempts to obtain Obama’s academic and other records.
DLH
