<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div apple-content-edited="true" class=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="orphans: auto; widows: auto;" class=""><i class="">Two articles below...</i></div></div></span><div apple-content-edited="true" class=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class=""></span></div><div apple-content-edited="true" class=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-30/courting-unions-clinton-says-she-didn-t-work-on-trans-pacific-partnership" class="" style="color: purple;">http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-30/courting-unions-clinton-says-she-didn-t-work-on-trans-pacific-partnership</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">Courting Unions, Hillary Clinton Says She Didn't Work on Trans-Pacific Partnership<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;"><span class="" style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;">The former secretary of state seems to be walking a careful semantic line.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Bloomberg<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">By Josh Eidelson<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">July 30, 2015 at 7:06pm<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div class="" style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">Hillary Clinton appeared to take another step away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Thursday, telling reporters that she didn’t work on the controversial trade deal while serving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">The Democratic presidential front-runner, who advocated for a multi-lateral Asia trade agreement as a member of Obama's administration but has pointedly refused to endorse the results as a candidate to succeed her old boss, walked a careful semantic line following a private meeting with the AFL-CIO executive council. Many of the group's members vehemently oppose the proposed trade deal.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">“I did not work on TPP,” Clinton said. “That was the responsibility of the United States Trade Representative.” She added: “I never had any direct responsibility for the negotiations at all.”</p><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">Clinton so far has refused to say whether she will support or oppose the trade deal. Obama hails it as a jobs creator but many other Democrats, including Clinton's chief challenger for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, decry it as a threat to American workers and their wages.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">As America's chief diplomat, Clinton said Thursday, “I advocated for a multi-national agreement that would quote 'be the gold standard.'”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">That appeared to be a reference to a 2012 speech in Australia, when the then-secretary of state<span style="text-decoration: underline ; color: #272727" class="">said</span> that “we need to keep upping our game both bilaterally and with partners across the region through agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership…This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field.”</p><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">But when a reporter on Thursday tried to pin Clinton down about whether she was endorsing the TPP at the time, she answered, “No, no, no,” and added: “I never had any direct responsibility for the negotiations at all.”</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">While Clinton herself would not have been personally engaged in the nitty-gritty of hammering out the TPP, the State Department is represented at the table when trade deals are negotiated. Her downplaying of her role appears to contradict the view of at least one of her peers. Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, last month <span style="text-decoration: underline ; color: #272727" class="">told</span> Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin that Clinton “participated in everything we did in the first term in a meaningful way,” and “was instrumental in formulating and implementing the re-balance to Asia, of which the Trans-Pacific partnership is a part.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">Clinton's latest comments followed a closed-door session AFL-CIO's executive council. One of five presidential candidates who met individually with the council, Clinton said TPP came up several times during her meeting. Outside, she repeated what are now well-rehearsed arguments on what it would take to win her backing for the deal:</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">“There are three tests that I want to see met: does this protect American workers, does it raise wages and increase economic opportunity and is it in our national security interests,” Clinton told reporters. She said she was hearing that “there have been some changes in a direction that I personally might approve, but I don’t know if there have been enough changes and I won’t know until I actually see what’s been negotiated.” Two people who were in the executive council’s meeting with Clinton told Bloomberg that her public comments echoed what she’d just told the union leaders.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">The TPP, which critics say would drive down wages and health and safety standards, has become an awkward issue for Clinton as she courts unions and progressives. This month Larry Cohen, who just retired after a decade heading the Communications Workers of America,<span style="text-decoration: underline ; color: #272727" class="">announced</span> that candidate Clinton’s lack of leadership on trade had spurred him to endorse and volunteer for Bernie Sanders. “She’s going to have that responsibility the rest of her life, that she didn’t do anything, and watched fast track go through,” Cohen told Bloomberg Monday. “Why would you expect if she’s elected that it would be any better? It would be worse, because she’s in campaign mode now.”</p><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(60, 60, 60);" class="">Other union leaders were satisfied with Clinton's trade talk. “I did not find her to be uncertain or elusive,” International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger told Bloomberg Thursday. “I thought she was pretty thoughtful. She wasn’t as muscular as some were, but she made it clear her view of the issue.” </div><div class=""><br class=""></div></span></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/cables-show-hillary-clintons-state-department-deeply-involved-trans-pacific-2032948" class="">http://www.ibtimes.com/cables-show-hillary-clintons-state-department-deeply-involved-trans-pacific-2032948</a><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><h1 itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 36px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;" class="">Cables Show Hillary Clinton's State Department Deeply Involved in Trans-Pacific Partnership</h1><div class="node-metainfo" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 9px 0px 5px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; font-family: RobotoRegular, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">By <span class="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemprop="author" itemscope="" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/reporters/david-sirota" class="author-name" rel="author" itemprop="url" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span itemprop="name" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class="">David Sirota</span></a></span> <span class="author-extra" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/davidsirota" class="author-twitter" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 148, 219); display: inline;">@davidsirota</a> <a href="mailto:d.sirota@ibtimes.com" class="author-email" absolute="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); display: inline;">d.sirota@ibtimes.com</a> </span></span><date style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline;" class="">on <span itemprop="datePublished" content="2015-07-31T09:30:22-04:00" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class="">July 31 2015 9:30 AM EDT</span></date></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday attempted to distance herself from the controversial 12-nation trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. During her tenure as Secretary of State, Clinton publicly promoted the pact <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/15/politics/45-times-secretary-clinton-pushed-the-trade-bill-she-now-opposes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">45 separate times</a> -- but with her Democratic presidential rivals making opposition to the deal a centerpiece of their campaigns, Clinton now asserts she was never involved in the initiative.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">"I did not work on TPP," she <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-30/courting-unions-clinton-says-she-didn-t-work-on-trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">said</a> after a meeting with leaders of labor unions who oppose the pact. "I advocated for a multinational trade agreement that would 'be the gold standard.' But that was the responsibility of the United States Trade Representative."</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">But State Department cables reviewed by International Business Times show that her agency -- including her top aides -- were in fact deeply involved in the diplomatic deliberations over the trade deal. The cables, which were among a trove of documents disclosed by the website WikiLeaks, also show that the Clinton-run State Department advised the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on how to negotiate the deal with foreign government officials.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In recent months, labor, <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">environmental</a>, <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">public health</a> and <a href="http://consumersunion.org/research/letter-to-us-trade-representative-re-pharmaceutical-and-ip-issues/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">consumer advocacy</a> groups have campaigned against the TPP, saying the pact is a stealth attempt by corporations to tilt the rules of international commerce in their favor. They have specifically criticized provisions in the deal -- which are secret but have periodically leaked -- that they say would empower corporations to use <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/trade-pact-how-trans-pacific-partnership-gives-corporations-special-legal-rights-1975817" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">international tribunals</a> to attempt to overturn public interest laws. The groups represent many core Democratic Party constituencies that Clinton has been courting in her White House bid, which explains why in the lead-up to the party's primary she has suddenly <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/politics/hillary-clinton-trade-issues-iowa-trip/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">depicted</a> herself as a critic of the deal. But the cables show that the Clinton-run State Department was indeed a major player in pushing the initiative.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In one <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09WELLINGTON275&q=pacific%20tpp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">September 2009 cable</a>, the State Department’s embassy officials in Wellington outline the New Zealand government’s desire for the United States to involve itself in the trade pact. An embassy <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09WELLINGTON327&q=trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">cable</a> from a few months later says the U.S. ambassador further discussed the TPP with New Zealand officials. In a <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=10WELLINGTON65&q=pacific%20tpp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">February 2010 cable</a>, the same embassy said that Clinton’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Frankie Reed met with New Zealand trade officials and “engaged on a wide range of topics, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">The cable notes that at the meeting, New Zealand officials told Clinton’s deputy that the country “views the TPP as a platform for future trade integration in the Asia Pacific and recognizes there will a number of sensitive issues on both sides during negotiations.” The cable says they also discussed the TPP’s effect on intellectual property rights, natural resource investment, and pharmaceuticals -- all specific issues that have raised concerns from watchdog groups in the United States.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In a separate <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=10WELLINGTON3&q=pacific%20tpp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">cable</a>, State Department officials in New Zealand request an additional employee to specifically “allow the Economics Officer to focus on preparations for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In a <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09HANOI851&q=trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">September 2009 cable</a>, State Department officials report that Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State, James Steinberg, specifically discussed the TPP with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">“The Deputy Secretary acknowledged that that the U.S. was reviewing its position on TPP, adding that stronger support from Congress as a result of positive steps on issues of concern was likely needed in order to move forward on trade issues with Vietnam,” said the cable.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In a <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09TOKYO2715&q=trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">November 2009 cable</a>, the U.S. embassy in Tokyo details TPP discussions between Japanese government officials and Robert Hormats, a former <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/129535.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">Goldman Sachs executive</a> who was then serving as Clinton’s undersecretary of state.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In a <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09HANOI1406&q=trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">December 2009</a> cable, State Department officials in Hanoi report that the U.S. Ambassador “hosted a dinner on December 21 for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement country representatives.” The cable thanked the Clinton-run State Department for providing “regular updates" that “have been key to helping vus answer the many TPP-related inquiries we receive.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">In a <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=10KUALALUMPUR61&q=pacific%20tpp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">January 2010 cable</a>, State Department embassy officials in Kuala Lampur advise Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis on strategies to negotiate the TPP with the Malaysian government.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">“Highlight the priority the Administration is giving to the Trans Pacific Partnership initiative, and the role that the TPP will play in promoting economic competitiveness and trade opportunities in the region,” Clinton’s State Department officials advised. “Encourage Malaysia, when it's ready, to engage TPP members about process and requirements for joining.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">The involvement of the Clinton-led State Department in the TPP is not altogether surprising: in a June, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-tries-to-downplay-clinton-snub-on-trade/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">CBS News</a> reported that “a senior administration official told CBS News Correspondent Julianna Goldman that Clinton was one of the biggest backers of TPP.” In a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-30/courting-unions-clinton-says-she-didn-t-work-on-trans-pacific-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(216, 75, 14);" class="">Bloomberg News</a> interview that same month, President Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice disputed the idea that Clinton was not involved in the TPP.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px none; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" class="">“She was integrally involved in all of the major initiatives of the first term of the administration,” said Rice, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations when Clinton was Secretary of State. “She was instrumental in formulating and implementing the rebalance to Asia, of which the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a part.”</p></div></div></body></html>