The Podesta Files: Leaked Hillary Clinton Campaign Emails Reveal Several Behind-The-Scenes Controversies

So I just got back from Oklahoma. Thackerville, Oklahoma. I was there for two days filming behind-the-scenes coverage of the World Long Drive Championship and not doing anything stupid whatsoever with this guy:

They let me and @RiggsBarstool on stage after the Long Drive last night. Probably not their smartest move. pic.twitter.com/5IOexbWPiZ

— Trent (@BarstoolTrent) October 13, 2016

While I was gone, WikiLeaks released 7,000 emails illegally hacked from Hillary campaign chairman John Podesta’s private email. Despite my best efforts to stay quiet and protect the liberal cause here at Libstool, I’m back writing now. I guess I have to cover it. Shit.

Does Hillary have disdain for certain voters? Does she have disdain specifically for Bernie voters? Does she cultivate certain media? Does her staff think Chelsea Clinton is a spoiled brat? Does she believe policy-making and backroom deals need to be permanently hidden from voters?

There are a lot of yeses in there. Let’s take a look.

(Information from RT, Washington Times, and the Wikileaks documents themselves.)

“Cultivating” Business Insider

Emails about Business Insider between Podesta and Hillary communications director Jennifer Palmieri.

“Am I right that they’re right wing? They get a fair amount of traffic,” Podesta asked.

“They are right wing, but Philippe [Reines, Clinton’s former State Department aide] weirdly has cultivated them,” Palmieri replied.

A presidential campaign “cultivating” media is obviously problematic. Trump has touted significant mainstream media bias towards Hillary from day one, so emails between her top advisers using the word “cultivate” to describe how they’ve handled a large outlet like Business Insider ain’t good.

Hillary acknowledging that US allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar provide assistance to ISIS

This is an email from Hillary to Podesta. Fuck ISIS.

“While this military/para-military operation is moving forward, we need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region,” said the email she sent to Podesta.

Fuck that. From the 9/11 Files to this, I’m so sick of Saudi Arabia. It’s always some “diplomatic” reason that we justify our allegiance with them. They love terrorists and that should count as 100 strikes every time. Zero tolerance policy on that shit. I can’t stand us tip-toeing around that fact and covering it up.

DNC + Hillary team conspiring against Bernie during primary

This isn’t shocking news, but the DNC was in Hillary’s pocket against Bernie the entire primary. The emails reveal that Donna Brazile, a former Bill Clinton aide and current top dog at the DNC, passed to the Hillary camp an email from the Bernie camp about their strategy for reaching African-American voters. The following is a “thank you” email from a Hillary aide for passing that along.

“Thank you for the heads up on this Donna…”

Yes that’s a pretty bland thank you email. Not very juicy. But just more evidence that the Clinton Machine has been this party’s nominee since 2012 and there’s nothing anyone could do about it.

Hillary: “You need both a public and a private position.”

This from leaked transcripts from one of her famous $225,000 speeches. She basically says backroom deals and such need to have a hint of privacy from the public.

“If everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position…”

I don’t hate this. Of course our politicians need to be armed with secrecy and privacy when going into negotiations and backroom deals. That’s fine with me. I’m not a nervous little bitch citizen — keep some things from me in order get shit done. No problems here.

Not being able to vet all Syrian refugees

One of the more contentious debates in this election has been that around immigration and the Syrian refugee crisis. Typical American values say to let people in. But the current radical terror climate makes us skeptical of doing so. Hillary has stood strongly on the side of allowing Syrian refugees, claiming they will all be thoroughly vetted before being permitted. Trump has said no, don’t let any of them in.

So this 2013 bit is contradictory or — at the very least — worrisome when it comes to permitting Syrian refugees.

“And particularly with Syria which has everyone quite worried, Jordan because it’s on their border and they have hundreds of thousands of refugees and they can’t possibly vet all those refugees so they don’t know if, you know, jihadists are coming in along with legitimate refugees…”

Chelsea Clinton being a “spoiled brat.”

This is just funny, an email from a Clinton lawyer to Podesta about Chelsea.

In a separate email to Podesta a month earlier, he said Chelsea was “acting like a spoiled brat kid who has nothing else to do but create issues to justify what she’s doing because she, as she has said, hasn’t found her way and has a lack of focus in her life.”

Disdain for Catholics, Southerners and “needy Latinos”

This evidence comes from bits and pieces of different emails (you can read more in depth about it here). Essentially the Clinton camp does indeed shit on Catholics, Southerners and “needy Latinos.”

Here’s an exchange between Palmieri and John Halpin, a fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress.

“It’s an amazing bastardization of the faith. They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy,” Mr. Halpin said.

“I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn’t understand if they become evangelicals,” Ms. Palmieri responded.

Here’s the blurb citing “needy Latinos.”

In an August 2015 message to other Clinton aides with the subject line “Needy Latinos and 1 easy call,” Mr. Podesta lays out a strategy for getting former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former Energy Secretary Federico Pena and other leading Hispanic Democrats on board with Mrs. Clinton’s presidential bid.

Mr. Podesta also referred to Mr. Richardson as “a d—k” but said it would be valuable to have him as a surrogate.

Calling Jake Tapper a dick

This came out nearly a week ago, but still funny.

It’s a question that has confounded millions of people for hundreds of years, @johnpodesta @jmpalmieri @kristina_schake #PodestaLeaks pic.twitter.com/CkHNT00S2L

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 7, 2016

I like Jake Tapper. How dare they.

Big week for reinforcing our strong belief in the election process and in our two nominees. It’s like whichever one is buried less deep come November 8th will be our president. Fun times.

I’m sure I missed a few things — there’s a lot that came out. As always, email me if you want to fight: riggs@barstoolsports.com.