Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
WikiLeaks exposes inner workings of Clinton camp
Hacked emails reveal behind-the-scenes details of Clinton camp
WASHINGTON — Hacked emails released in daily dispatches this past week by the WikiLeaks group exposed the inner workings of Hillary Clinton’s campaign leading up to her 2015 announcement that she would seek the presidency, and through this year’s primary.
The thousands of emails were hacked from the accounts of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
U.S. intelligence officials have blamed the Russian government for a series of breaches intended to influence the presidential election. The Russians deny involvement.
Among the revelations from Podesta’s hacked emails:
ON EMAIL SCANDAL
A series of exchanges among Clinton aides and her attorney in August 2015 show internal wrangling over what to say to the public about the ongoing scandal over her use of personal email and a private server.
Aides also wrestled with whether an open letter from Clinton should specifically reference former Secretary of State Colin Powell in arguing that she used the same email practices as her predecessors.
Powell’s private advice to Clinton about setting up private email later became public. In Powell’s own emails that were hacked this year, he complained that Clinton’s team was trying to blame him.
JUANITA BROADDRICK
A January 2016 email from Clinton’s personal lawyer, David Kendall, to Podesta followed up on a phone call to provide a history of allegations made by Juanita Broaddrick, who accused Bill Clinton of raping her in the late 1970s.
The documents in the WikiLeaks release include the affidavit that Broaddrick signed saying that Clinton did not assault her and the independent counsel’s history of the Paula Jones case in which Broaddrick later received immunity from any prosecution for perjury if she changed her story.
“Voila! She did, disavowing her sworn affidavit and sworn deposition testimony,” Kendall wrote to Podesta. He concluded, “Please let me know if there’s anything else I can provide about this slimefest.”
LARRY DAVID
It turns out both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders wanted the endorsement of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David, who portrayed Sanders on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” David declined due to an ongoing role playing Sanders. STAR POWER
As Clinton’s campaign geared up in 2015, her aides hoped to procure some star power to give her a boost — someone sensational, but not too sensational.
Less than two weeks before her formal launch speech in New York, her scheduling director asked for a list of celebrities willing to help and said the campaign wanted options “somewhere between a high school band and Lady Gaga.”
Aides quickly gave the go-ahead to using actress Julianne Moore. Former campaign aide Diane Hamwi said “Girls” creator Lena Dunham “will do whatever, though bit more edgy.”
SHUFFLING PRIMARY DAYS
The Clinton campaign tried to move the Illinois presidential primary to a later date. The campaign said a contest held after the Super Tuesday primaries might stop momentum for a moderate Republican candidate, and it emphasized that Clinton and her husband “won’t forget” a political favor.
The email, from Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook to Podesta, said Obama administration officials should use their connections in the president’s home state to try to push back the March 15 Illinois primary by at least a month.
Mook wrote, “IL was a key early win for (GOP presidential candidate Mitt) Romney” in 2012.
The primary date was unchanged.