Sidney Blumenthal was a problem for the rest of the Clinton operation, with top political aide John Podesta at one point telling a colleague Mr. Blumenthal lacked self awareness or self respect, and urging to “shoot me if I ever end up like that.”
The latest round of hacked emails from Mr. Podesta’s account posted Wednesday by WikiLeaks show Mr. Podesta grappling in May 2015 with the fallout of the release of memos Mr. Blumenthal had written to Hillary Clinton about Libya during the time she was State Department secretary.
“Sidney sure is the gift that keeps giving,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank founded by Mr. Podesta.
Ms. Tanden had first complained that Mrs. Clinton was not doing well on the campaign trail, saying “that excitement thing you were worried about does seem to be a problem.”
She then complained about Mr. Blumenthal finding his way back into the news, clearly touching a nerve with Mr. Podesta.
“It always amazes me that people like Sid either completely lack self awareness or self respect. Maybe both. Will you promise to shoot me if I ever end up like that?” the Clinton campaign chairman said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.