Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Clinton Campaign Statement on New Developments Regarding Austan Goolsbee and CTV NAFTA Report

For several days, simple questions have been posed to the the Barack Obama campaign:

Has anyone associated with their campaign met with Canadian officials? Has anyone associated with their campaign offered private assurances to Canadian officials downplaying Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric?

In response, the Obama campaign has offered several carefully parsed non-denials.

But this evening new information has come to light: Senator Obama's top economic advisor admitted to meeting with the Canadian consul general but has refused to deny that he discussed NAFTA in this meeting.

This raises a host of additional questions: Now that it is clear that this meeting occurred, what was discussed? Did Austan Goolsbee or any Obama official downplay Senator Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric to Canadian officials? Why have they have been trying to give the impression that no conversation ever occurred?

Voters deserve more than empty rhetoric and Senator Obama and his campaign should finally come clean and answer these questions.

ABC News Report, 2/29/08:

On Thursday, Goolsbee told ABC's Jennifer Parker that Canada's consul general in Chicago contacted him "at one point to say 'hello' because their office is around the corner."

Goolsbee refused, however, to deny whether he downplayed Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric.