Hillary Clinton’s campaign closely monitored reports of Bill Clinton’s alleged mistresses, including rumors surrounding one woman nicknamed “The Energizer” who routinely visited his home.
Hillary Clinton’s aide Cheryl Mills sent an email inquiring about a Daily Mail report speculating about the identity of Energizer.
“Who is the ‘Energiser’ (sic) who has been Clinton’s secret lover?” she asked, sending a link to the story.
“Well they sure managed to get every name into one story,” replied Podesta wryly, after reading the story in the email chain that included Tina Flournoy, Bill Clinton’s chief of staff. “I guess you got to give them credit for that.”
Flournoy then suggested that the trio get together for a phone call to discuss the issue offline.
The emailed discussion occurred in July 2014, as rumors swirled around Clinton’s relationship with his wife. The conversation was made public as part of the WikiLeaks leaks of Podesta’s private email account.
In December of 2014, Mills emailed Podesta with the subject line “Julie.”
“Saw her pic in this or last weeks Enquirer,” Podesta wrote. “Probably need to revisit our Whitehaven conversation.”
The New York Post reports that the email was likely discussing Julie Tauber McMahon as the “Energizer” according to a book by former agent Ronald Kessler.
“K,” Mills replied.
It was not the only story that the team flagged for closer discussion.
In Feb. 2014, the three aides emailed about Kathleen Willey insisting that Hillary enabled Bill’s behavior and tried to discredit her allegations.
“Well, this certainty shows an organized assault,” Podesta replied, after Flournoy said that she saw the story the previous night and “ignored it.”
The running theory was that the hits on Clinton’s personal life were being “coordinated” by nefarious parties, including Fox News chief Roger Ailes.
In February 2014, Washington Post reporter Dan Balz emailed Former Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides to ask about rumors.
“Confidentially: Rumors around that the NYT is digging into Clinton/Bill Clinton and ready to pop something,” he wrote. “Do you know what this is about?”
Nides forwarded the email to Mills who sent the email to Flournoy and Podesta and Bruce Lindsey, a lawyer working for the Clinton Foundation
Flournoy replied with inside information from New York Times reporter Amy Chozick.
It appears that the New York Times story on the topic was never published.
In March 2014, Mills emailed Podesta and Flournoy a link to a TMZ story about Bill Clinton posing with “two star hookers at the famed Nevada Bunny Ranch brothel.”
There is, as yet, no response from Podesta released.