It took seven Hillary Clinton aides twelve hours to determine whether the campaign should respond to a question from the Washington Examiner about Clinton’s involvement with presidential debate planning, according to messages published by WikiLeaks.
The April 14, 2015 exchange began when the Examiner‘s Eddie Scarry asked whether Clinton was coordinating with the Democratic National Committee on the party’s debate process. “Has … Clinton spoken with DNC officials about this? Does she plan on being involved in the primary debate process, [and] should other candidates declare themselves?” he asked.
The question, directed to longtime aide Philippe Reines and press secretary Nick Merrill, sent staff scrambling. The message was subsequently shared with Clinton adviser Karen Finney, top aide Charlie Baker, deputy spokesman Kristina Schake, deputy communications director Christina Reynolds and campaign manager Robby Mook.
“I can take this one,” Finney said, before the offer was vetoed by Reynolds. “Not sure we should have the first response on this be with the Examiner,” she replied. “Can we let this one go and be ready for the next outlet? Is there a preset answer already?”
Schake concurred. “We don’t want to break this news with Wash Examiner. We have a preset answer for her — we can change to be from staff for future inquiries.”
Finney suggested that they acknowledge the message and forward the issue to party officials. “I was going to suggest he should ask the DNC about the DNC’s process,” she wrote.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2603915
Mook was the last to comment, twelve hours after the inquiry was submitted. “Let’s not comment and send them to the DNC… I don’t want to appear as if we’re involved in this at all,” he said.
The campaign never responded to the inquiry. A DNC official did respond to a separate message submitted while Clinton staffers were still debating the issue.
The messages were among 25,000 released obtained from campaign chairman John Podesta and released by WikiLeaks as of Friday. Earlier releases revealed the campaign favoring reporters who supported Clinton, including the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, who officials said “never disappointed” them, and CNBC’s John Harwood, who regularly sent unsolicited emails to Podesta offering praise and compliments for Clinton.
Clinton campaign officials did not respond to a request for comment.
