by John McCormick, updated
With Sen. Barack Obama continuing to directly challenge Sen. Hillary Clinton today — both in South Carolina and in a Tribune interview — his presidential primary campaign is also firing from Iowa with a letter challenging her to more quickly make public documents from her time as first lady.
The assault from the Illinois Democrat’s campaign comes by way of Iowa Atty. Gen. Tom Miller, who was one of the first public officials in the state to endorse Obama, as well as Lu Barron, a Linn County supervisor.
The two suggest that many documents pertinent to Clinton’s experience before she was a New York senator will not be released until after the Iowa caucuses are held on Jan. 3.
“Throughout this campaign, you have repeatedly emphasized your experience as first lady,” the letter states. “However, by refusing to authorize an expedited release of the records from your time in Washington, you are preventing the Iowa voters from thoroughly reviewing that experience.”
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer, meanwhile, responded with a statement that claims Obama’s campaign is “misleading the public about the laws governing the national archives document process.”
Singer maintains that it is not just a simple matter of handing the material over to the public.
“By law, those documents are government property in the custody and control of the national archives,” he said in the statement. “For many reasons, including national security and historical purposes, each page must be reviewed by the national archives before it is made public.”
Clinton spoke about the matter herself today in an interview with Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson, linked here.
The full text of the Obama campaign letter is below the jump.Dear Senator Clinton:
Yesterday, it was reported that the Clinton presidential library will not release the public schedules from your tenure as First Lady until late January – several weeks after Iowa Democrats have participated in the January 3rd caucuses. Other records documenting your time in Washington won’t be made public until long after millions of Democrats have cast their vote to choose our nominee, because of the request to have documents reviewed by Bruce Lindsey prior to their release.
Throughout this campaign, you have repeatedly emphasized your experience as First Lady. However, by refusing to authorize an expedited release of the records from your time in Washington, you are preventing the Iowa voters from thoroughly reviewing that experience.
We ask you to demonstrate your commitment to turning the page on political tactics that routinely block the American public’s right to know what their government is doing and has done.
We’re backing Barack Obama because he has repeatedly demonstrated a commitment to a transparent government. That’s why he has released his personal income tax returns, made his Senate appropriations earmarks public, and led the effort to establish a “Google for Government” initiative that requires the entire federal budget to be posted online in a publicly available and searchable format.
As Americans and as Democrats ready for change, we’re asking you to be as open as possible with the American people. You should publicly request that the tens of thousands of pages that have been cleared for release by the National Archives be immediately provided to the public, and ask for the expedited release of all records requested from the Clinton Library in advance of the Iowa Caucuses.
As Iowans, we understand that what makes our first-in-the-nation caucus unique is the opportunity to carefully examine each of the candidates and their records before making a decision about whom to support. Fully releasing these records is in keeping with the spirit of the process that makes the Iowa Caucus so special.
Sincerely,
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Co-Chair of Obama’s Iowa campaign
Linn County Supervisor Lu Barron
