Ex-Clinton aide criticizes Gillibrand after Franken’s resignation

A former aide to Hillary Clinton criticized Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Thursday after the New York Democrat became the first of many senators to join a successful push to force the resignation of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).

Philippe Reines argued during an appearance on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that Gillibrand isn’t sufficiently explaining why she called for the resignation of Franken this week and former President Clinton previously.

“She’s not putting in context her rationale for who she calls for resignation and when,” Reines said Thursday. “She two weeks ago called for Bill Clinton’s resignation, or saying Bill Clinton should have resigned two decades ago.”

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“[She] didn’t really say why, she never said say she regretted not speaking earlier, or taking the Clintons’ support or money,” Reines continued. “And then goes a few weeks without saying anything on Sen. Franken until yesterday.”

Reines reiterated that he thought Gillibrand, a possible 2020 Democratic presidential contender, had not explained her “rationale” for demanding these figures’ resignations.

“That’s not to say her decision was wrong. She was joined by 29 other senators,” he added. “But most people have been discussing this in a framework of, ‘If someone does this, it’s unacceptable and they should resign.’ It’s unclear in the way she’s been, in describing her actions, what that rationale is.”

Reines, who served under Hillary Clinton at the State Department, has repeatedly attacked Gillibrand in recent weeks, labeling her a “hypocrite” last month after she argued that Bill Clinton should have resigned for his sexual misconduct in the White House.

“Her point was strange to me because she probably didn’t come to this feeling and thought and position yesterday,” Reines said on Fox News in November.

“Why she wouldn’t have in the last 20 years vocalized it is strange to me. Nothing was stopping her.”

Gillibrand responded to Reines on MSNBC, calling the former adviser “ridiculous” and “wrong.”

“Ridiculous, and he’s wrong,” Gillibrand said at the time. “Bill Clinton did very important things for this country. But my point is about this conversation we are having today, and that we need to have the highest standards for elected leaders, and we have to change what’s happening throughout society, and we have to allow people to tell their stories.”