WikiLeaks: State Dept Coordinated Email Release With Clinton Campaign

by Kevin Daley

The Department of State provided a detailed readout of official email traffic it was about to release in response to Freedom of Information Act requests to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The emails concerned speeches former President Bill Clinton gave abroad, and did not include any traffic from Hillary Clinton, according to new emails released by WikiLeaks.

“All — DOS is soon releasing another round of documents and email traffic (not hers) in response to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request on DOS’s process for reviewing WJC’s speaking engagements,” Heather Samuelson wrote March 17, 2015. Samuelson has been a Clinton aide since the early 2000s and served as White House liaison during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Maura Pally and Craig Minassian of the Clinton Foundation; Philippe Reines, a longtime Clinton adviser; press secretary Nick Merrill; communications director Jennifer Palmieri; Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff at State; and Tina Flournoy, President Clinton’s former chief of staff, are included on the email.

“It’s 116 pages with approx. 50 sponsor/subsponsor requests,” the email continues. “No objections by DOS in this batch, but some lengthy internal discussions among DOS officials that I highlighted below.”

It is unclear how Samuelson obtained the information relayed in the email, as she left the State Department two years earlier in March 2013. It is also unclear what is meant by “No objections by DOS in this batch.” The email suggests Department officials screened for politically problematic content in the release. The State Department declined to comment by press time.

The email also includes several items flagged by department officials which may have been of interest to the Clinton campaign. This includes an invitation former President Clinton to speak at a climate change conference in Turkey, for which he would have been compensated by the Turkish government, and another speaking engagement paid for by the Canadian government. The former president declined the former invitation, but accepted the latter.

“Jen — happy to give you more background on prior releases since it’s your first go around,” Samuelson wrote to close out the email, in reference to Palmieri. (RELATED: White House Coordinated With Clinton Team On Email Fallout Talking Points)

The revelation comes one day after The Daily Caller learned the Clinton campaign coordinated with the White House on talking points concerning the fallout surrounding Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State.

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