Clinton’s Aides Referred to Tory Lord as ‘The Evil Ashcroft’, Called William Hague ‘Disingenous’

Another revelation from Hillary Clinton’s recently disclosed e-mails is that Sidney Blumenthal, one of her closest aides, referred to the Conservative Party donor Lord Ashcroft as “the evil Ashcroft”. 

The insult comes halfway through a briefing to Mrs. Clinton, which her husband Bill subsequently referred to as “brilliant”.

Mr Blumenthal, one of the key figures in Hillary’s private e-mails, wrote a briefing to his boss shortly after Britain’s General Election in 2010, in which he noted that Nick Clegg had an “inner Tory”, reflecting a previous briefing that highlighted how Mr Clegg almost joined the Conservative Party when initially considering a move into frontline politics. Clegg was said to have thought he could get further in the Liberal Democrats.

He added:

“What about the Tories? A secret memo from William Hague to Cameron written before the election was leaked this morning to The Observer (the Sunday paper of The Guardian), proposes an anti-Europe line of the new government. (I’ve enclosed the article below.) The atmosphere inside the Conservatives is acrid and anxious. But Lord Ashcroft, the Tory moneyman, who spent five million pounds alone in marginal districts, is furious that Cameron failed to win outright, failed in his campaign, made a foolish decision to include Clegg in the debates, etc. Many agree with the evil Ashcroft.”

(Emphasis added).

Blumenthal also encouraged Mrs. Clinton to “tilt” towards Europe, warning that the incoming Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government may take a slightly more Eurosceptic position.

Not only was he wrong on this, but in other e-mail Blumenthal warned that Cameron’s “ideological economics” would come back to haunt the United Kingdom within 18 months. Instead, UK unemployment fell faster than that of the United States, and Britain enjoyed the fastest growth of any OECD country at the time.

“Prepare for [William Hague], who is deeply antiEuropean and will be disingenuous with you. Tory budget cuts in NI, already announced, would cause havoc with peace and economic recovery. I’d send a private message asap on that score the second a new government is announced, if it is. Tilt publicly to Merkel on Europe for this reason among others.”

Mrs Clinton responded: “I shared your emails w Bill who thought they were “brilliant”! Keep ’em coming when you can.”