Hillary Clinton’s campaign was hit with the latest October surprise WikiLeaks emails on Wednesday morning — the most recent batch of the trove that founder Julian Assange says will end the Democratic nominee’s campaign.
Since the Wikileaks started flowing several months ago , Clinton has found herself up against the formidable foe of the words of her own campaign. Theories that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) collaborated with Hillary’s people to assure that she beat out Bernie Sanders were backed up with significant evidence, and even resulted in the stepping down of DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schwartz. October surprise’s offering was slated to be even more damaging.
The latest collection of emails might not contain anything quite as influential as that particular WikiLeaks revelation , but it does reference the Sanders campaign in a way that is irking his supporters. October surprise’s newest addition shows Clinton’s chairman John Podesta talking about ways to “throw a bone” to Bernie primary voters. At one point, he suggests cutting down the number of superdelegates in an effort to placate Sanders supporters
“Why not throw Bernie a bone and reduce the super delegates in the future… his people will think they’ve “won” something from the Party Establishment. And it functionally doesn’t make any difference anyway. They win. We don’t lose. Everyone is happy.”
Email from drafter of US Democrats Super Delegate system on @SenSanders #PodestaEmails4 https://t.co/RQXsmAKY0J h/t @ike_saul pic.twitter.com/5MxIPsOmeb
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 12, 2016
Another fellow left-leaning politician that gets a mention in the WikiLeaks “surprise” emails is Joe Biden. The message in question — sent last October — doesn’t reveal the exact activities of sender Ron Klein, but it does seem to indicate that he had a hand in provoking a “Biden demise,” and, as no surprise, made him unwelcome with that particular camp as a result.
“Thanks for inviting me into the campaign, and for sticking with me during the Biden anxiety. You are a great friend and a great leader. It’s been a little hard for me to play such a role in the Biden demise – and I am definitely dead to them — but I’m glad to be on Team HRC, and glad that she had a great debate last night.”
Another one of the WikiLeaks October surprise emails attracting particular attention is the discussion of a list of “ Friends of Hillary ,” which top aide Huma Abedin is seen briefly referencing in one email before saying that it should not be talked about there. She briefly mentions that people are looking to “rent out” the list. Earlier in the email, she lists specific individuals — like Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio — and various voter blocs that are sympathetic to Clinton, though it is not confirmed if these people are the “friends” she mentions later.
“We should be thoughtful about any group that wants to rent Friend of Hillary list now because there is interest. This is also probably best discussed off email.”
The Clinton campaign also seems to concede that they will not be able to prove that Hillary stands up against Wall Street , especially when compared to Bernie Sanders. Apart from that October surprise, it also appears that they pushed to give the debates as little weight as possible — postponing them and blocking the one-on-one format, according to one of the WikiLeaks emails .
WikiLeaks #email fallout: pic.twitter.com/rVX7PUWZJY
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) October 12, 2016
Despite the clear swipes at his campaign unearthed by WikiLeaks, Bernie has continued with his message that the October surprise emails are secondary to what he views as the real focus of the 2016 presidential election: defeating Donald Trump.
. @BernieSanders on WikiLeaks reveals: ‘Look forward, not backward’ https://t.co/xTn6WHlxLO | Getty pic.twitter.com/7eSia4BgVX
— POLITICO (@politico) October 12, 2016
What are your thoughts on the latest October surprise WikiLeaks emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign?
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle and Raman Talaie/Getty Images]