Glenn Thrush, the chief political correspondent for Politico, told John Podesta that he was a “hack” for sending an entire section of an article pertaining to Podesta for approval before publication. To conceal his lack of journalistic integrity, Thrush asks Podesta to “Please don’t share or tell anyone I did this.”
The exchange between Thrush and Podesta was revealed by Wikileaks (Podesta Email 12681). In the email, Thrush sends several paragraphs about Hillary’s fundraising operation and leads into the article by admitting, “Because I have become a hack I will send u the whole section that pertains to u.” After asking Podesta not to “share or tell anyone I did this,” Thrush seeks Podesta’s approval on the article by saying, “Tell me if I fucked up anything.”
Shortly afterward, Podesta replies to Thrush with his approval, saying on the record, “no problems here.”
The long article “Podesta signed off on” was published on May 1 and titled. “Hillary’s big-money dilemma: How the Clinton campaign’s go-small political message is butting up against 2016’s big bucks reality.” The article never directly quotes Podesta or makes mention that one of the authors had spoken with Podesta. Instead, it cites “people close to the campaign” for the information about Podesta that Podesta provided.
“Podesta, people close to the campaign say, supports the Cheng-led strategy of creating an army of small-to medium-scale campaign bundlers.”
The article was co-authored by Thrush and Anna Palmer. Ken Vogel was also credited as a contributor.
Dustin Stockton is a political reporter for Breitbart News, a community liaison for Gun Owners of America, and a political strategist. Follow him on Twitter @DustinStockton or Facebook.