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Courting Unions, Hillary Clinton Says She Didn't Work on Trans-Pacific Partnership

The former secretary of state seems to be walking a careful semantic line.
A man cycles past the CSCK Indian Ocean container ship, operated by China Shipping Container Lines Co., during loading operations at the Eurogate GmbH & Co. KGaA KG shipping terminal at Hamburg port in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.

A man cycles past the CSCK Indian Ocean container ship, operated by China Shipping Container Lines Co., during loading operations at the Eurogate GmbH & Co. KGaA KG shipping terminal at Hamburg port in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Hillary Clinton appeared to take another step away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Thursday, telling reporters that she didn’t work on the controversial trade deal while serving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.

The Democratic presidential front-runner, who advocated for a multi-lateral Asia trade agreement as a member of Obama's administration but has pointedly refused to endorse the results as a candidate to succeed her old boss, walked a careful semantic line following a private meeting with the AFL-CIO executive council. Many of the group's members vehemently oppose the proposed trade deal.