New emails show breadth of Clinton’s A-list network

Washington — A new batch of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s emails released Friday presented a glimpse into the breadth of her personal network — a Rolodex of powerful celebrities, CEOs, political advisers and politicians that she’s now tapping for her presidential campaign.

A political celebrity long before she became secretary of state in 2009, Clinton and her team balanced requests from a long list of boldface names. They included the pop star Lady Gaga, Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Jimmy Carter.

While Clinton’s private email address was unknown to much of official Washington, at least one Hollywood celebrity wrote to her there. Actor Ben Affleck, a longtime Clinton supporter, urged her in April 2012 to review a draft of a report about security problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hours later, Clinton emailed an aide, “I’d like to respond to Ben Affleck.” A day later, she reminded an aide that she was still waiting for the aide to draft a reply: “I haven’t yet received a draft and would like to respond today.”

The response to Affleck was censored in the email released Friday by the State Department, because it was a draft version.

In another December 2011 note, civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson reached out to Clinton’s staff with a request to talk to her before his visit to South Africa, asking how best to “represent her/Admin thinking on any issues/opportunities that might arise.” He was quickly added to her call list.

On Friday, hours before the email release, Jackson touted Clinton’s candidacy before a meeting of black pastors in Atlanta, saying: “It’s healing time. It’s hope time. It’s Hillary Clinton time.”

Clinton has faced questions about whether her unusual email setup, which involved a private server located at her New York home, was sufficient to ensure the security of government information and retention of records.

At least two Senate committees are still investigating Clinton’s email arrangement and seeking the release of correspondence from her top aides. The FBI is also investigating the security of Clinton’s private email setup.

Yet Clinton’s place in preference polls has improved since the first Democratic primary debate, in which her chief rival, Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, defused the issue, saying “the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”