Hacked trove shows Clinton aides suggesting email jokes
Canadian Press
Laurie Kellman
WASHINGTON - Hacked emails from the personal account of Hillary Clinton's top campaign official show her aides considered inserting jokes about her private email server into her speeches at several events — and at least one joke made it into her remarks.
"I love it," she told a dinner in Iowa on August 14, 2015, noting she had opened an online account with Snapchat, which deletes posts automatically. "Those messages disappear all by themselves."
The crack scored a laugh from the audience, but the issue was plenty serious. About a month earlier, news broke of an FBI investigation into whether some of the emails that passed through Clinton's unsecured server contained classified information. Ultimately, the agency criticized Clinton for being reckless with classified information but declined to prosecute her.
But hacked emails of John Podesta, Clinton's top campaign official, show the Democratic candidate and her team were slow to grasp the seriousness of the controversy, initially believing it might blow over after one weekend. It did not, and became the most recent example of a penchant for secrecy that has fueled questions about Clinton's trustworthiness, which she has acknowledged has been a political challenge.
The joke was included in hacked emails WikiLeaks began releasing earlier this month, saying they included years of messages from accounts used by Podesta. Podesta warned that messages may have been altered or edited to inflict political damage, but has not pointed to any specifics.
Photos: Most contentious US Presidential Elections
The result of the 1800 U.S. elections, which saw Thomas Jefferson win in a rather contentious manner, led to the passage of 12th Amendment of the American constitution. Amendment XII changed the way presidential and vice-presidential offices were chosen under Article II and made it mandatory for electors to vote separately for the nation's two highest offices, that of the president and the vice-president, instead of voting on the same ballot.
This was the time when each electoral college member had two votes reserved for the post of president, and whoever garnered the maximum number of votes became president, while the runner-up took the office of the vice-president. So, when Jefferson and his chosen vice-presidential pick, Aaron Burr, tied 73-73 for first position, the nation's first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, used his influence within the party to shift the tide toward Jefferson, considering him a lesser evil than incumbent president John Adams and Burr. The election took a zanier turn when Burr, while still in the office, killed Hamilton in a duel in 1804.
1824 - John Q. Adams (L) vs. Andrew Jackson vs. William Crawford vs. Henry Clay (R)
With the Federalist party being on the cusp of extinction, this election was fought among four Democratic-Republican candidates. 1812 war hero, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote by fewer than 39,000 ballots, and captured 99 electoral votes. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams secured 84, Treasury Secretary William Crawford won 41 and House Speaker Henry Clay had 37.
With the support of Henry Clay and Clay loyalists, John Quincy Adams won the 1824 elections. The most favored candidate, Jackson (pictured) was enraged after Adams chose Clay as his Secretary of State soon after his inauguration, calling it a "corrupt bargain." Quitting his Senate seat, Jackson vowed to come back and win the 1828 election as a Washington outsider, and with the support of his new party members, the Democrats, he won as promised.
1860 - Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas vs. John Breckinridge vs. John Bell
The 1860 elections were controversial primarily because of the burning issue of the time — slavery. While Abraham Lincoln (who was against slavery) from the Republican Party won the election, despite his name not being mentioned in the Southern states ballot, the aftermath caused a great rift across the nation.
Soon after the election, South Carolina voted to secede, followed by six more Southern states. In February 1861, delegates from those states formed the Confederate States of America and selected Jefferson Davis as their president. And in April the same year, the South Carolina militia took over Fort Sumter, and four more states joined the Confederacy.
In one of the most disputed presidential elections in U.S. history, Democratic governor Samuel J. Tilden outdid his Republican counterpart Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes' 165, with 20 uncounted votes. These 20 votes were in contention in four states. While in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina each party reported its candidate had won the state, in Oregon, one elector was declared illegal (as an "elected or appointed official") and replaced.
The 20 disputed electoral votes were ultimately awarded to Hayes after a bitter legal and political battle, tilting the verdict in his favor. It is believed that the deal was struck on a compromise consolidating Democratic control of the region, effectively ending Reconstruction.
This is believed to be the greatest electoral upset in American history. Almost all public opinion polls indicated that Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey would defeat Harry S. Truman. Truman was a supporter of the Civil Rights movement, which caused in struggle with the opposition in his own conservative Democratic party.
Truman's feisty campaign style energized his base of traditional Democrats and he was woken up by his Secret Service agents at 4 AM, to be told that that he had won. Chicago Tribune made the striking headline — "Dewey Defeats Truman," while publishing its morning edition hours earlier than usual owing to printers' strike.
Television played a vital role in establishing the presidential stature of Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy pitted against then Vice-President Richard Nixon from the Republican Party. Witnessing the first of the four-presidential debate on TV, citizens were clearly charmed as Kennedy outmatched Nixon on Sept. 26, 1960.
The number of viewers who watched the televised debate has been estimated as high as 74 million. On Nov. 8, 1960, Kennedy edged out Nixon by 119,000 votes. After the 1960 election results, presidential debates on TV were not broadcast again until 1976, primarily because candidates became wary of their influence.
With a razor-thin five-vote majority in the electoral college, Republican candidate George W. Bush won this memorable election despite trailing Democratic Al Gore by more than 500,000 votes in the popular vote. The recounting of votes in Florida took center stage in the election.
Five weeks after the election, the U.S. Supreme Court had the final word, ruling by a narrow majority to stop the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court on the grounds that it violated the constitutional principle that "all votes must be treated equally."
14/14 SLIDES
Almost from the moment The Associated Press on March 3, 2015, called the campaign for comment on its breaking story that Clinton had been running a private server to five months later, campaign aides sought venues on Clinton's schedule where she could show some humour over the issue, according to the hacked emails.
In a series of emails on March 3, 2015 — the same day The Associated Press called for comment — staffers tossed around the idea of making jokes about the emails at a dinner hosted by EMILY's List, a political action committee, that evening.
"I wanted to float idea of HRC making a joke about the email situation at the EMILY's List dinner tonight," Jennifer Palmieri, director of communications for Clinton's campaign, wrote at 2:37 p.m., using the candidate's initials. "What do folks think about that?"
The idea got a mostly favourable response at first. "I don't think it's nuts if we can come up with the right thing. But it could also be nuts," replied campaign spokesman Nick Merrill a couple of minutes later.
"I think it would be good for her to show some humour," added Kristina Schake, now a deputy communications director. "...More jokes are welcome too."
But political consultant Mandy Grunwald nixed the idea after speaking with Jim Margolis, a media adviser to the campaign.
"We don't know what's in the emails, so we are nervous about this," Grunwald wrote to Merrill and Schake at 6:09 p.m. that night. "Might get a big laugh tonight and regret it when content of emails is disclosed."
Clinton's campaign aides also considered using Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's 2015 appearance at the Gridiron Dinner, an annual Washington joke-fest involving journalists and politicians, to try and defuse the email issue. McAuliffe is a longtime confidante of and fundraiser for Clinton, and was chairman of her unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid.
"Anyway what do we think about using gridiron to puncture the email story a little," wrote Palmieri, who suggested possible joke topics, including one involving Jeb Bush.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook expressed concern, saying reinforcing the idea that Clinton and McAuliffe are close "conjures the 90s stuff" — a reference, to Bill Clinton's two turbulent terms in office. McAuliffe's routine at the Gridiron did not ultimately include the discussed email routine.
Five months later, Hillary Clinton's director of speechwriting, Dan Schwerin, shared a draft of a speech for the annual Iowa Wing Ding dinner in an email to colleagues, asking for input.
"I look forward to your feedback. (Also, if anyone has a funny email/server joke, please send it my way.)," he wrote on August 13.
___
Associated Press writers Juliet A. Williams in Sacramento, California, Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio, and Alan Suderman in Gainesville, Florida, contributed to this report.
"Even a small dog can piss on a tall building" Jim Hightower
-- Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
© Provided by thecanadianpress.com