The WikiLeaks “Podesta Emails” are the gift that just keeps on giving. Only, the gift is rotten, and no one really likes it much. So far, the WikiLeaks emails have revealed a pointed disdain for the Bernie Sanders campaign and how closely Podesta and Clinton worked with the DNC and the media to control the narrative.
One of the WikiLeaks emails revealed a Democratic party leader wrote to Podesta, suggesting they “throw Bernie a bone” in order to marginally appease his “self-righteous” supporters, a topic I covered recently .
WikiLeaks has also uncovered what appears to be a sharp betrayal of Vice President Joe Biden. Biden had been mulling a presidential run but wasn’t certain he could do it. Just five months after Biden lost his son, Beau, to brain cancer, his former chief of staff Ron Klain emailed Clinton chairman John Podesta. Klain showered him with gratitude for being patient with him while praising Hillary’s debate performance the night before.
The October 14 email also reveals that Podesta had asked him to be a part of the campaign.
“She was great last night. 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. Thanks John.”
Biden was still grieving for his son, yet Klain’s email indicates a callous disregard for his former boss and his emotional situation in pursuit of a bigger carrot, so to speak. The entire tone of his message smacked of opportunism at the expense of someone who was suffering a tragic loss.
And nearly three weeks before Hillary officially announced she was running for president, Podesta and five other top Clinton campaign staffers received a “draft letter on trade” from Dan Schwerin, a well-known speech writer. In the March 2015 email, Schwerin attached a letter that outlined conditions that must be met for the TPA and TPP to be considered.
“This draft assumes that she’s ultimately going to support both TPA and TPP. It focuses on what needs to happen to produce a positive result with TPP.”
Senator Bernie Sanders has long opposed any passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any “fast track” (also known as the Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA) efforts due its potentially negative and devastating effects on U.S. trade, national autonomy, and how it could kill even more U.S. jobs. During the primary season, he relentlessly needled Clinton about it until she finally broke her silence about it and publicly opposed it.
However, this latest WikiLeaks revelation appears to paint a different story — that she could very well work with Congress to pass the TPP despite massive public opposition to it. If that is the case, it would be one of the biggest betrayals by a public figure in recent memory.
And then there’s Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress. WikiLeaks released an email in which she describes herself a “loyal soldier” for Hillary Clinton. Her message to Podesta in January indicated that she would do anything to help Clinton win.
“I know you were probably kidding this morning about me in NH. I am aware of your dark sense of humor. But I should say that I would do whatever Hillary needs always. I owe her a lot. And I’m a loyal soldier. I think I might not be so useful because I overly focus on the lessons of the past but if there’s something I should do to help campaign more I will do it. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to this and she wins Iowa.”
This statement is troubling because Tanden declared what amounts to eternal, blind loyalty to Clinton. Why the ominous final sentence? Was she offering to sabotage Bernie’s campaign for Podesta and Clinton?
Tanden is one Clinton insider who blamed Bernie for hurting the Clinton campaign by staying in the race until the convention. And in a move that one could interpret as a jab at him, she rejected the idea of supporting a $15 minimum wage. Another WikiLeaks dump revealed an exchange between her and Podesta about her thoughts on the issue.
In April, Podesta sent her a message on the $15 minimum wage argument, asking her, “Should we care about this?” Tanden suggested that they not support the wage hike, saying several liberal economists could argue against it.
Podesta and Tanden’s exchange about the minimum wage occurred just two weeks after massive, nationwide demonstrations demanding $15 an hour, according to The Intercept. Did they even have American workers’ best interests in mind?
The American people always knew about the maneuvering, intrigue, and backstabbing that goes on in our political system, but thanks to WikiLeaks, we now know the levels that it’s reached are too much for even the most cynical observer. Despite the Democrats’ accusations that WikiLeaks is a secret Russian operation, that point is still up for debate , according to the Daily Beast . What we do know, with the steady stream of WikiLeaks’ Podesta emails coming, is that the Democratic establishment does not seem to care about the American people.
[Featured photo by John Locher/AP Images]