Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a special “CONFIDENTIAL” memo from her shady political adviser, Sidney Blumenthal just after tea party Republicans won their huge majority in the House of Representatives during the midterm elections of November 2, 2010.
Blumenthal bashed incoming House Speaker John Boehner, he fretted about the tea party’s role in the shocking Republican majority, and he urged Clinton to aggressively “break them apart.”
Hillary was receptive to Blumenthal’s ideas and admitted she was “distressed” over the huge Republican win. “Thx, as always, for your insights,” Clinton replied. “I’m on a plane on the way to Papua New Guinea for the next 6 hours so pls email me results as you get them. Needless to say, I’m so distressed over all of this. All the best, H.”
So what did Blumenthal tell her in his memo? According to a new State Department email dump Monday night, here are the bare-knuckle political highlights:
Blumenthal Blames Karl Rove For ‘Far Right’ Sarah Palin
“Rove is telling his donors that the ticket in 2012 is Romney/Barbour. Haley Barbour is Rove’s ally. Together they constitute the heart of the GOP establishment. In a potential Republican administration Barbour would be a new kind of Cheney, but more politically skillful…Rove is at war with Palin. He has told his donors she must be stopped. Palin is well aware. The Politico story filled with anonymous quotes about a murky establishment vs. Palin is about the Death Star of Rove/Barbour. Ironies: Rove doubled down on a base strategy for Bush, galvanizing the right wing, now spun out of his control to Palin. The GOP used the far right and Palin in the mid-terms and now have to kill them in presidential nomination politics. Attacking Palin only builds her stature with the right. She plays instinctively to the base, but can she play a long game against the big boys determined to destroy her?…Palin has already aligned Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh on her side. Fox News is being split. Murdoch gave his big donation to the Republican Governors Association, headed by Barbour.”
Blumenthal Not A Fan of Pro-Netanyahu Israel Donors
“Malcolm Hoenlein has been raising money hand over fist for the Republicans through [GOP leader Rep.] Eric Cantor, now his vehicle. The donors are many of the same US donors to [Israeli nationalist leader] Bibi [Netanyahu] and [his political party] Likud. Implications obvious.”
Blumenthal Fears The Tea Party Assault on GOP Establishment
“The House Republicans have already planned to primary all Senate Republican moderates in the next cycle. Olympia Snowe is a particular target…In the Senate, Jim DeMint continues to be a Fifth Column of the right, allied to the House Republicans, against remaining Senate GOP moderates. He will be reinforced after this election with Rand Paul, et al. Paul, of course, hates Mitch McConnell, and vice versa…McConnell’s statement the day before the mid-terms that the goal of the GOP is to make Obama a one term president is, in fact, their agenda. Everything in the House and Senate will be bent to that end.”
Harsh Words For John Boehner
“Boehner is despised by the younger, more conservative members of the House Republican Conference. They are repelled by his personal behavior. Boehner has already tried to buy the members with campaign contributions and committee assignments, which he has already promised to potentially difficult members. His hold is insecure. He is not Gingrich, the natural leader of a “revolution,” riding the crest into power. He is careworn and threadbare, banal and hollow, holding nobody’s enduring loyalty. Boehner is beholden and somewhat scared of his base. He twitches when they make gestures that might undermine his position. His impulse is to hand out money. His aim is to recreate DeLay, Inc, with Jerry Lewis, who will be the new chairman of Appropriations. But Boehner is neither feared nor loved. He’s a would-be DeLay without the whip. He’s the one at the end of the lash. Which means he will be under great pressure and find it hard to sustain a moderate, reasonable strategy of restraint. McConnell is relatively in the same position in the Senate.”
With Regard To Republicans, Blumenthal Advises Hillary To “Break Them Apart”
“On the other hand, the Congressional Republicans are vulnerable to a strategy that takes advantage of their internal divisions. Policies/tactics should be calculated to locate GOP fissures, find political space by widening schisms, and ultimately break them apart. This is, emphatically, not a strategy of bipartisanship as Obama has pursued it so far. It is a different and more informed approach.”