Here are all the things leaked emails show Hillary Clinton’s campaign said about Elizabeth Warren and Massachusetts
Plus, some serious Massachusetts-on-New Hampshire shade.
WikiLeaks released a fourth batch of leaked emails Wednesday morning from the hacked account of John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Podesta has denounced the hacks, which he suggested were carried out by Russians trying to sway the election in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump (U.S. intelligence officials formally accused the Russian government last week of a previous hack of the Democratic National Committee).
If authentic, the newly-released emails reveal much of the inner-workings of the Democratic nominee’s team dating back before she even announced her candidacy, including the campaign’s anxious relationship to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and briefings on local Massachusetts politics.
Clinton campaign worried about Warren
As The Boston Globe reported Monday evening, messages from the second round of released emails show the Clinton campaign fretting about how to deal with and appease the Massachusetts senator.
Worried that Warren would endorse Clinton’s primary opponent Bernie Sanders, campaign aides debated back in October 2015 how they should position themselves on issues like banking regulation and the minimum wage.
“I am still worried that we will antagonize and activate Elizabeth Warren by opposing a new Glass-Steagall,” Clinton consultant Mandy Grunwald wrote in an email, referring to one of Warren’s trademark points of advocacy.
Another email sent to Podesta from Warren’s personal account last March (a few weeks after the Massachusetts primary) indicated the Bay State senator was on good terms with the Clinton campaign chairman.
Warren eventually endorsed Clinton once the former secretary of state clinched the primary delegates necessary for the Democratic nomination.
Warren gave Clinton a list of appointment recommendations
Politico first reported Tuesday an email dating back to January 2015, in which Warren’s team warned against potential cabinet appointments they viewed as too friendly to Wall Street.
The email from Clinton speechwriting director Dan Schwerin recalls a meeting with Dan Geldon, a Warren aide, who was “intently focused on personnel issues, laid out a detailed case against the Bob Rubin school of Democratic policy makers, was very critical of the Obama administration’s choices, and explained at length the opposition to Antonio Weiss [a Barack Obama appointment Warren effectively blocked].”
The level of scrutiny on cabinet nominations is in keeping with Warren’s mantra: “Personnel is policy.”
Schwerin then wrote that he and Geldon “carefully went through a list of people” Warren had apparently sent to Clinton at an earlier point in time.
Not ‘Ready for Warren’
According to an email released Tuesday, one Clinton staffer was not too happy with the enthusiasm among progressives for a potential Warren presidential bid.
“This is more than a little annoying,” Phillippe Reines, a longtime Clinton adviser, wrote in an email referring to a 2014 New York Times article on the “Draft Warren” effort spearheaded by a progressive advocacy group, MoveOn.org.
The email was sent December 9, 2014 amid speculation (or perhaps mostly wishful thinking by progressives) that Warren would launch a 2016 presidential campaign.
“Making noise is one thing. Spending seven figures is another,” Reines wrote. “She voted for the war, you punished her already, get over it. I don’t know who funds them, but don’t we have Hollywood friends with ties to MoveOn who can tell them to cool it?”
Of course, Warren never ended up launching a presidential bid and MoveOn.org would go on to endorse Sanders.
Massachusetts was a ‘dogfight’ with Sanders
The Massachusetts primary was certainly close on the Democratic side. And as Politico reported following Tuesday’s release, the Clinton campaign knew it.
In an email just a few days before the Massachusetts primary, Oren Shur, the Clinton’s director of paid media, emailed the former secretary of state about an ad they hoped to run in the state.
“We’re in a dogfight there and we think it will help – and the team up there is excited about amplifying it in the press,” Shur wrote.
Politico notes that the ad was subsequently picked up by CNN, CBS News, and the Globe.
Marty Walsh requested Boston event
Shortly before Clinton joined local elected officials at a substance abuse forum in Dorchester last October, she got some light reading from her policy team.
A memo emailed September 30, 2015 from domestic policy adviser Sara Solow provided an extensive briefing on work Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and state Attorney General Maura Healey had done on drug policy and substance abuse issues.
It also revealed that the Boston mayor, who had not yet endorsed Clinton, was the one who initiated the event.
“Walsh specifically requested this event,” Solow wrote, noting that Walsh was “close to making an endorsement.” Less than two months later, he did.
Solow’s email also noted Walsh’s opposition to a state ballot question on legalizing marijuana and that the mayor “has said he will lead a crusade against it.”
“Governor Baker and Attorney General Healey also oppose legalization of marijuana, but are less likely to lead a charge against it,” she added. “Many pundits expect the referendum to pass.”
In April, Baker and Walsh teamed up for an anti-legalization campaign.
Ouch…
Last is an email sent to Podesta from Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden, in which the Bedford native casts some serious shade on her home state’s northern neighbor.
“What is wrong [with] the people of [New Hampshire]?” Tanden, a Clinton supporter, wrote five days before the state’s primary last February.
While the email lacks any additional context, polls at the time showed Clinton consistently trailing Sanders by double digits in New Hampshire. The Vermont senator would go on to win the state by more than 20 percentage points. Polls also showed Trump up big in the Granite State, which he would also win in a landslide.
The email from Tanden—who is said to be a potential Clinton chief of staff candidate—was first flagged Tuesday by Union Leader editor Trent Spiner.
Hillary supporter from Mass: “What is wrong with people of NH?” You should hear what we think about people from Mass! #NHpolitics pic.twitter.com/fcfWrmOATf
— Trent Spiner (@TrentSpiner) October 11, 2016
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