I don't know Rezko, Clinton says after photo surfaces
"Today" show host Matt Lauer asked presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Friday if she has a connection to indicted developer Tony Rezko after flashing an undated photo of the two posing with President Bill Clinton.
"You were attacking Senator Obama, in particular, his work connected to what was a so-called a slumlord in Chicago, a guy named Tony Rezko," Lauer said. "You can't see what I'm going put up on the screen ... but it is a picture of you and your husband Bill Clinton posing with that same man."
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Lauer said he they were unable to verify when the photo was taken, but it most likely happened during Bill Clinton's presidency.
Clinton said she did not remember taking the picture and said she doesn't even remember meeting Rezko.
"I've probably taken hundreds of thousands of pictures," Clinton said. "I don't know the man, I wouldn't know him if he walked in the door, I don't have a 17-year-relationship with him."
Earlier this week, Clinton questioned Obama's relationship with Rezko, who is facing a Feb. 25 federal criminal trial in Chicago on public corruption and fraud charges involving state of Illinois teacher pension funds.
Clinton said she must respond in kind to attacks from rival Obama even though she'd rather keep the race for the Democratic presidential nomination focused on their differences on public policy issues.
''I try not to attack first, but I have to defend myself -- I do have to counterpunch,'' Clinton said.
''I took a lot of incoming fire for many, many months and I was happy to absorb it because obviously, you know, I felt that was part of my responsibility. But toward the end of a campaign you have to set the record straight,'' the New York senator said.Clinton, Obama and their campaigns have exchanged increasingly hard-hitting jabs in recent days over race, his relationship with a Chicago developer, her vote on the Iraq war, and other issues. Clinton stopped airing a South Carolina radio ad critical of Obama on Thursday and Obama took down his radio response in an attempt to cool the angry public spat.
''I have tried to make it clear that this election has to be about the future,'' Clinton said. ''It is perfectly legitimate to draw comparisons and contrasts. I think both Senator Obama and I have made it clear we do want to focus on what we each would do for our country. It has been obviously an incredibly intense campaign. ... But I do want to make it clear that our campaigns have to stay focused on what you know the legitimate differences are so we can give voters information.''
Clinton was asked about the backlash against Bill Clinton, who has repeatedly criticized Obama's campaign.
''There's been a lot that's been said on both sides and some of it has been kind of generated and certainly stoked. That all needs to just calm down and everybody needs to take a deep breath,'' Sen. Clinton told CBS' ''Early Show.''
Her husband, she said, ''gets excited, gets really passionate about making the case for me.''
Clinton's Republican rivals have also stepped up their criticism of the former first lady, whom they view as the mostly likely Democratic nominee. At a GOP debate in Florida Thursday night, Arizona Sen. John McCain said she wanted to raise ''the white flag of surrender'' in Iraq and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney derisively referred to her as ''General Hillary Clinton.''
''I don't worry about that because I think we're putting together a coalition of Democrats, independents, even Republicans who are very much disappointed with the policies of the Bush administration and the approaches taken by the Republican candidates,'' Clinton told NBC. ''In fact, we know that whomever is nominated by our party will be subjected to the same kind of withering attacks, but what is great is that those attacks are so old. It doesn't reflect what's happening in our country today.''
Contributing: AP