In the spring of 1996, President Clinton was seeking reelection when he met in Egypt with Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first post-Soviet leader who was also facing a tough reelection battle.
A leaked memorandum of conversation obtained by The Washington Times found that Mr. Clinton pressured the Russian leader by offering U.S. political support for Mr. Yeltsin’s reelection — with just one catch: Russia first had to lift a ban on U.S. chicken imports, imposed over concerns that the poultry was tainted with bad bacteria.
“This is a big issue, especially since about 40% of U.S. poultry is produced in Arkansas,” Mr. Clinton told the Russian leader in Sharm el-Sheikh. “An effort should be made to keep such things from getting out of hand.”
Mr. Clinton did not mention that most of that Arkansas chicken was produced by Tyson Foods Inc., whose chairman, Don Tyson, was a close friend and political supporter. Mr. Tyson owned the $4 billion company, which was the world’s leading chicken processor.
Bill Clinton leak exposes Democrats’ double standard on impeachment
A leaked memorandum of conversation obtained by The Washington Times found that Mr. Clinton pressured the Russian leader by offering U.S. political support for Mr. Yeltsin’s reelection — with just one catch: Russia first had to lift a ban on U.S. chicken imports, imposed over concerns that the poultry was tainted with bad bacteria.
“This is a big issue, especially since about 40% of U.S. poultry is produced in Arkansas,” Mr. Clinton told the Russian leader in Sharm el-Sheikh. “An effort should be made to keep such things from getting out of hand.”
Mr. Clinton did not mention that most of that Arkansas chicken was produced by Tyson Foods Inc., whose chairman, Don Tyson, was a close friend and political supporter. Mr. Tyson owned the $4 billion company, which was the world’s leading chicken processor.
Bill Clinton leak exposes Democrats’ double standard on impeachment
