Many have called the Bush administration the “most secretive administration in American history.” Among those making this charge is Hillary Clinton; likely the next to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (unfortunately). On Clinton’s website, she states that “We need a return to transparency and a system of checks and balances, to a president who respects Congress’s role of oversight and accountability.”

This is quite a departure from her days of her illegal holding of closed meetings regarding her socialized healthcare plan early in her husband’s administration. Perhaps she has had a change of heart about transparency in government since then?

Apparently, this policy does not apply to her campaign, however. Last week the AP reported that millions of documents being archived at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library from her husband’s administration will not be available until after the 2008 election (How convenient!). Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group and no doubt part of the “vast right-wing conspiracy,” has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Clinton Library to compel the library to release the records. Ironically, Hillary Clinton might benefit from the Bush administration’s secrecy she so decries. In 2001, President Bush signed an executive order which allows former presidents to deem certain documents privileged and apparently exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Here’s a wonderful opportunity for Hillary Clinton to demonstrate how open she will be in leading her administration. All she needs to do is sweet talk her husband and have him release the documents which pertain to her. I’m sure she has nothing to hide.

The ball is in your court Hillary. Why should the American people believe you will be transparent in your administration if you will not be transparent in your campaign? The American people have a right to know before they choose the next president.