The State Department disclosed 3,000 emails from Hillary Clinton’s secret email server on Tuesday night which show a far greater role for controversial advisor Sidney Blumenthal than previously known.
The panel of MSNBC’s Morning Joe discussed the email disclosure Wednesday.
"Longtime advisor Sidney Blumenthal had a more regular role than originally believed," co-host Willie Geist said. "Clinton pushed for him to get a job at the State Department. Blumenthal also played a role as an intermediary in the Northern Ireland peace process and helped Tony Blair get elected as president of the E.U."
When Hillary Clinton worked as secretary of state, she tried to get longtime confidante Blumenthal a job at the State Department. When this effort was rebuffed by the Obama administration, Blumenthal moved on to positions with Clinton-allied organizations like the Clinton Foundation, Media Matters, and American Bridge, where he continued to advise Clinton on official matters.
"I think he was just hounding her with emails, email after email," MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle said charitably.
"She wasn’t saying ‘Stop emailing me,’ so clearly she was accepting what he was presenting," Yahoo’s Bianna Golodryga responded.
Clinton disseminated Blumenthal’s often-faulty intelligence within the State Department on numerous occasions.
While Tuesday’s email disclosure shed light on Blumenthal’s role in State Department affairs, there were lighter discoveries as well.
"You say these Hillary Clinton emails read like a scene out of Veep," host Joe Scarborough said to co-host Willie Geist, referencing HBO’s sitcom about a bumbling and power-hungry politician.
In one conversation, aide Huma Abedin coached Hillary on how to use technology.
The State Department has been ordered by a federal judge to regularly release emails provided by Clinton from her secret server, so public understanding of Clinton and Blumenthal’s dealings is likely to expand over time.
"This is the first batch" of emails, Geist said. "We’ll get more every month."
"That’ll be fun," Scarborough said.