Labor Secretary Tom Perez endorsed Hillary Clinton for president despite his own employees’ qualms with her private email server, as well as her past support for outsourcing and other policies at odds with the labor movement.
Perez, an attorney and activist who left behind a controversial legacy at the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division when Obama tapped him for the labor post in 2013, announced he would endorse Clinton on Thursday.
"Progressives believe in making progress, which is why I'm proud to endorse Hillary Clinton, who I know will continue fighting to ensure our children and grandchildren can achieve their highest and best dreams," he said in a Clinton campaign release.
The endorsement came following the revelation that Perez’s staffers had concerns about Clinton’s record-keeping practices during her four years as secretary of state. Emails obtained by conservative research firm America Rising show Perez’s underlings were worried that it violated public recordkeeping laws.
Public records officer Rachel Vera emailed colleagues a March Washington Post article detailing Clinton’s private server to "ensure our Presidential appointees and personnel are aware of the requirements when using personal email," she wrote.
The replies varied from shock to incredulity.
"What in the Heck was State thinking??? I do not blame her for not turning things over–but their Departmental Records Officer has a lot to answer for," Tanisha Bynum-Frazier said.
Labor staffers chimed in, adding, "So glad I’m not working there…lol" and pointed to Clinton’s system as an example of "how NOT to handle things." The email "did not sit well" with others. Frank Clubb, an officer with the department’s administrative review board, contacted Vera asking her for a private phone call. There were political concerns with her sharing the email, according to the documents obtained by America Rising.
"FYI this did not sit well with the folks at the Boards," she said. "Frank just called to warn us about the feedback he received from his folks…keeping in mind about the political part."
"I spoke to Al and he said some people may be more ‘politically sensitive’ than others," Bynum-Frazier said.
America Rising said that the candid emails demonstrate that federal record keepers recognized Clinton’s action as "inappropriate."
"What’s clear from this correspondence is that employees in Secretary Perez’s Department knew immediately that Clinton’s actions were inappropriate and a brazen effort to avoid Freedom of Information laws," America Rising said in a blog post. "Even political appointees of President Obama knew right away what Secretary Clinton did was wrong."
Clinton has a record that is also at odds with the labor movement championed by Perez. She served on frequent union villain Walmart’s board for several years. She also endorsed foreign outsourcing during her tenure in the Senate, even helping a large outsourcing firm set up office in Buffalo, New York. The Labor Department is now investigating claims of visa violations from two outsourcing firms tied to Clinton and her family foundation.
Perez chose to endorse Clinton over labor movement darling Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who launched Perez’s career when he tapped him as the state’s labor secretary in 2007. He is the latest of major players in the union movement to endorse Clinton.
In the past two weeks, Clinton has captured endorsements from major public sector union Service Employees International Union and the Laborers Union. The endorsements came despite the fact that Clinton has broken from two of the biggest items on those unions’ respective agendas. She shot down the SEIU’s proposal for a $15 minimum wage, instead embracing a hike to $12 an hour. She also flip-flopped on the Keystone XL pipeline, announcing her opposition to the massive infrastructure project in September. The Obama administration nixed the pipeline in November, a move that "disgusted" Laborers president Terry O’Sullivan.
"The president’s decision to kill the Keystone XL Pipeline is just one more indication of an utter disdain and disregard for salt-of-the-earth, middle-class working Americans," O’Sullivan said in a release. "The politics he has played with their lives and livelihoods is far dirtier than oil carried by any pipeline in the world, and the cynical manipulation of the approval process has made a mockery of regulatory institutions and government itself."
Perez vowed to stump for Clinton on the campaign trail.
"I look forward to hitting the campaign trail to highlight the progress we’ve made as a nation, the unfinished business, and why Hillary Clinton is the fighter we need leading that effort," he said in the release.
Neither Perez’s spokesman nor the Clinton campaign returned requests for comment.