An internal 2015 strategic memo shows that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s top campaign staffers called for her to make an “early release of health records” to head off criticism from campaign rivals. However, the campaign has yet to release her full records.
The memo was drafted in July 2015 and included in an email from campaign manager John Podesta to Clinton and her aides Huma Abedin and Jennifer Palmieri. The memo was published on by the website WikiLeaks, which presumably obtained it from an illegal hack.
Under the subject line, “FW: Strategic Framework Memo” the message outlines the campaign’s plan to win the Democratic primary and general election. Podesta indicated that it represented the campaign staff’s consensus of the best route forward, explaining to Clinton and her aides that he would have sent the memo earlier but that there were “too many cooks” involved.
In a section titled “Defend against attacks/Plan around vulnerabilities” Podesta said that whenever attacks were made against Clinton regarding “emails, Clinton Foundation donors, tax and other records” the campaign needed to be transparent and use that transparency to turn their tables on their critics by demanding that they make disclosures as well. This response would include “early release of health records.”
However, while Clinton has authorized her doctor to release some information regarding her health history, she has not released the documents in full. Instead, Clinton’s doctor released a two-page letter in July 2015 offering a positive assessment of the candidate’s condition and a second two-page report in September after Clinton fainted during a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony.
Other emails published by WikiLeaks show that disclosing the records was a matter of much debate within the campaign, with many staffers finding it extremely difficult to even bring the matter up with Clinton.
“Have you talked with her at all about taxes and health?” staffer Robby Mook wrote to Podesta in March 2015. “I’m [sic] know both are hyper sensitive but I wonder if both are better dealt with very early so we can control them — rather than responding to calls for transparency. What do you think?”
