A retired CIA analyst who was injured and ejected from a 2011 speech by Hillary Clinton said he never heard from the presidential candidate, despite a top advisor telling Clinton that she or one of her staff members should reach out.
The suggestion, made by longtime Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal, was published in a batch of emails made public by the State Department this week. The messages show Blumenthal emailing Clinton, who was secretary of state, and top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, to inform them of an “unfortunate incident” involving a retired CIA analyst who attempted to protest an appearance by Clinton at George Washington University.
“Don’t know if you are aware of this unfortunate incident,” Blumenthal wrote in the Feb. 18, 2011 email. “Ray McGovern, a former CIA officer who gave the daily brief for President George H.W. Bush, is pretty well known in the intelligence community. He’s become a Christian antiwar leftist who goes around bearing witness.
“Whatever his views, he’s harmless. Something bad happened at your speech at GW,” Blumenthal added. “And it’s become a minor cause celebre on the Internet among lefties. You might have someone check this out and also have someone apologize.”
Clinton distanced herself from the incident in her reply. “I appreciate your sending [this] to me. Neither State nor my staff had anything to do w this. The man stood up just as I was starting,” Clinton wrote. “GW … claims their quick actions were part of their standard operating procedures to remove anyone who stands up and starts speaking while an invited guest is talking.”
She added, “GW claims he was not in any way injured. We have no other info but I will see what else can be done.”
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The 77-year-old McGovern, who said the incident was prompted when he attended the rally wearing a “Veterans for Peace” shirt and turned his back to Clinton, contends he never heard from Clinton or the State Department. “I received no acknowledgement or response from [Clinton] or her associates,” McGovern told the Washington Examiner. “But why would anyone bother with anyone described as ‘harmless?'”
The State Department thread indicates Blumenthal replied with photographs of McGovern’s injuries, along with his contact info. Clinton forwarded the message to Philippe Reines, who worked as a top aide at the State Department. No further messages by Clinton or her staffers are evident.
The messages were included in a trove from Clinton’s time as secretary of state that Clinton attempted to delete, but that were obtained by the FBI and turned over to the State Department in July. The department published several hundred of the messages this week in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.
