SMRs and AMRs

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Sid Blumenthal's raw advice for Hillary

From Iran to Boehner, the longtime confidant of the Clinton family offered the former secretary of state extensive — and seemingly unfiltered — advice.

By Nahal Toosi, Politico.com
Updated 09/01/15, 12:31 PM EDT

Israel? It needs some "tough love."

Iran? Use the "iron fist in the velvet glove approach."

Republican leader John Boehner? "Louche, alcoholic, lazy and without any commitment to any principle."

If Hillary Clinton ever needed insights on something — or even if she didn't — Sidney Blumenthal was happy to oblige.

The latest batch of Clinton emails released late Monday sheds more light on how Blumenthal, the liberal writer and longtime confidant of the Clinton family, was an inescapable presence in the former secretary of state's digital life during her years at Foggy Bottom.

To be sure, Clinton received advice from many third parties, but the quantity and audacity of the missives from Blumenthal — a divisive figure in Washington — stand out. Although Clinton has described Blumenthal’s advice as unsolicited, the emails released so far show that, at times, she sought his counsel and he wasn't always right — such as when he assured her that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had a solid shot at keeping his post just days before the election that ousted him.

(More here.)

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