Hillary challengedon rape allegations

As news of the IRS audit of Katherine Prudhomme -- the housewife who publicly asked Vice President Al Gore last year if he believed Juanita Broaddrick's rape claim against President Clinton -- spreads over cyber chat rooms and print media editorials, Prudhomme urges Americans not to miss her point: Broaddrick's allegations are not being addressed, she says.

Just hours before beginning the "Friends of Juanita Broaddrick" rally outside Hillary Clinton's New York senatorial campaign headquarters last Saturday, Prudhomme was notified by the IRS that she owes an additional $1,500 in taxes for 1998.

The assessment is based on income that should have been classified as tax-exempt, says Prudhomme, and the re-filing of a form should clear up the misunderstanding. And while the New Hampshire resident says the timing is suspicious, she is "not going to be like Hillary Clinton and claim 'vast' conspiracy," she quipped.

Prudhomme's confrontation with Gore on national television at a town hall-type campaign event prompted the vice president's now-infamous bumbling response that he had not seen the much-publicized interview with Broaddrick and did not know how to respond to the rape allegations.

"Well, I didn't know what to make of her claim, because I don't know how to evaluate that story. I really don't," Gore replied. "Whatever mistakes he made in his personal life are, in the minds of most Americans, balanced against what he has done in his public life as president."

Unsatisfied with Gore's response, Prudhomme determined to continue drawing attention to Broaddrick's accusation that Clinton brutally raped her in 1978 during his term as attorney general of Arkansas. In her speech at Saturday's rally, Prudhomme publicly responded to Gore's answer.

"[His] last statement really made me mad. What is he saying to me? That if I don't 'want to move on' then I am not one of the American people? Or is he telling those who still think that rape is a crime in this country and believe their president may be a rapist that they are out of touch with everybody else? Are we out of touch? I say no! We are, in fact, in touch! We are in touch with truth, we are in touch with justice, we are in touch with kindness and we are in touch with doing the right thing! And I won't be manipulated by anyone who may try to tell me otherwise!"

In her editorial this week in The Union Leader, a New Hampshire newspaper, Prudhomme asks for consistency from Gore and the Clintons.

"Mrs. Clinton plans to attend an awards ceremony soon honoring those who are fighting for justice by tracking down the rightful owners of property stolen from the Jews during the Holocaust. That property was stolen a long time ago. If the Clintons and Gore are so eager to 'move on,' why bother looking back more than half a century to right such a terrible wrong? Apparently, Mrs. Clinton thinks some things are worth going back and rectifying."

A home-schooling mother and the first female graduate of her trade high school's machinist program, 29-year-old Prudhomme was born on Aug. 19, sharing Bill Clinton's birthday. To celebrate, she decided to visit her mother and sister in New York and make a stop at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters to drop off a tape of the Broaddrick interview with Lisa Myers of NBC. A tape was also sent via certified mail to ensure the first lady received a copy.

Curiously, when Prudhomme attempted to purchase a copy of the interview from NBC, she was told the tape was not being offered for sale. Other interviews from the Dateline program may be purchased, but the Broaddrick broadcast was not listed among cataloged items at a local NBC station, she said.

Prudhomme was eventually given a copy of the broadcast by Broaddrick herself, who thanked Prudhomme for publicly asking Gore about his opinion of the rape accusation.

In an open letter to Mrs. Clinton, "Friends of Juanita Broaddrick" praised the first lady for efforts in defense of women.

"Your position in defending women who are victims of violence is both admirable and appreciated. Because you are a strong voice in this matter, your help is required," the letter states.

It goes on to describe the details of the rape allegation made by Broaddrick, saying, "It may be too late to prosecute [the perpetrator] criminally, but the truth needs to be known. America needs to know that the victim told the truth and was raped by this powerful man."

"Mrs. Clinton, you should be able to secure the public apology that is desired. You see, Mrs. Clinton, the man who terrorized this woman, who violently bit and raped her, is your husband."

When Prudhomme hand-delivered a copy of the Broaddrick interview to Mrs. Clinton's campaign staff Saturday, she was accompanied by members of "Friends of Juanita Broaddrick," who handed out flyers to passers-by about Broaddrick's rape allegation against President Clinton.

The first lady's silence regarding Broaddrick's claim spurred Prudhomme to action last week.

"That is why I, such a little person from Derry, N.H., believe that I truly have no choice today but to resort to this grass-roots organizing," she said Saturday through a public address system to New Yorkers who would listen. "... Grass-roots organizing that I know that you, Mrs. Clinton, deep in your heart, would not only approve of, but applaud, if only I were not here to stand up for Juanita Broaddrick. For she is someone so totally inconvenient for you to believe. But I think you do."

"Girl -- get a backbone!" Prudhomme continued. "We are told over and over that you are a strong woman. Show us some proof. Show us who you are with your actions, not just with your words, because actions beat words hands down every time."

In attendance at the rally was the Dulles Area chapter of the National Organization of Women, which refers to itself as a "breakaway" chapter of the national group. Dulles Area NOW was formed by its president, Marie Jose-Ragab, out of frustration with the lack of support for Broaddrick in the national organization, headed by Patricia Ireland.

"Standing in stark contrast to the strangely silent women's groups formerly convulsed in outrage over Anita Hill's soda can, Katherine Prudhomme embodied the very spirit of true feminism when she courageously asked Vice President Gore in front of a televised audience, 'Do you believe Juanita Broaddrick?'" said Jose-Ragab in a written statement. "Possibly aware that no controlling legal authorities were firmly in place at the time of the assault, Mr. Gore's vague reply was indicative of how desperately Democratic faithful wanted to ignore her very existence.

"This gathering is a reminder that the story of Mrs. Broaddrick has not, and will not, 'move on,' and that it looms larger every day," the statement continues. "Katherine and her Friends have come here to ask again, 'Do you believe Juanita?' As a candidate to high public office, it is a fair question for Mrs. Clinton to answer."

Since the rally, where she announced her receipt of the IRS notice, Prudhomme said she has been contacted several times by people offering her money to pay the $1,500 assessment. But she does not want or need the money, she said.

"I'm not making any claims about a conspiracy," she added. "The real story here is that the Juanita Broaddrick allegation is not being addressed. If people want to donate money to the cause, they can make a contribution to any rape crisis center of their choosing in honor of Juanita Broaddrick," said Prudhomme, who is a rape survivor.

The biggest impression the rally left on the young housewife was "how much people trusted me to believe them." Attendees at the rally poured their hearts out to Prudhomme, relating their own tragic stories of rape victimization. Prudhomme said she was able to tell the women "that it's not their fault."

As for the Clintons, Gore, women's groups and others who recoil at the topic of Broaddrick's allegations, "they try to make it an 'impolite' question" to ask if Mrs. Clinton believes Broaddrick, whose nursing home records are now also being audited.

"Mrs. Clinton should answer this if she wants to have credibility with New York voters," Prudhomme concluded.

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