News media banned from Clinton's overseas talks

By The Associated Press
and freedomforum.org

03.12.01

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Reporters invited to cover former President Bill Clinton's first speech outside the United States since leaving the White House were told late last week that they were no longer welcome.

The news-media ban, on an economic speech that the former president delivered today in The Hague, came from Clinton's office and was related to the uproar over his pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, according to the Dutch conference organizer and a Dutch public relations firm.

"We received an order … to close the event to the press," said Stephan Glerum of the Dutch public relations firm handling media relations for the speech, in which Clinton discussed commerce in developing countries.

About 80 reporters, television crews and photographers were told their invitations to the event were no longer valid.

The conference organizer, Leo van der Kant, said the ban was related to the uproar over the Rich pardon on Clinton's last day in office.

The Times of London, in a report posted at its online site before the speech, said that if Clinton "was hoping for a controversy-free trip after the constant headlines about the pardons he gave and the gifts he received, he can expect to be disappointed. He will arrive in the Netherlands to be greeted by fury and confusion after his sudden decision to exclude the press from attending a speech he is to deliver in The Hague."

Clinton arrived 30 minutes late for the 45-minute talk, waving in the direction of a lone supporter and a battery of journalists outside the hotel where the event took place. A Dutch reporter who shouted a question at Clinton was evicted from area.

Before the speech, Clinton mingled with about a dozen guests who each paid $10,000 to have lunch with him. Corporate executives and members of the Dutch government each paid about $1,200 to attend the speech.

Clinton's appearances later this week in Denmark and Germany, where he will attend a ceremony for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, also will be closed to the press, officials said.

The decision to bar the press from Clinton's speeches came after reporters in the United States were excluded from last week's Atlantic City, N.J., speech to Asian hotel owners, for which he received about $100,000.

It was unclear how much the former president was to receive in speaking fees on his European trip.

The Dutch company apologized for the belated media blackout, saying it was bound by a contract with Clinton's office. Reporters had been told they would be admitted after agreeing to coverage guidelines.

Related

Bush administration: Pardons paperwork should remain private
White House says former President Clinton's documents should be withheld from public to protect president's right to receive confidential advice.  08.28.02