Former secretary of State and retired four-star general Colin Powell called Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “a national disgrace” and “international pariah”, and said “Hillary’s mafia” was trying to drag him into Clinton’s email scandal in personal emails that were leaked by hackers, according to online news organizations BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller.
Advertisement
In leaked emails posted on website DC Leaks, Mr Powell also blasted Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as “a national disgrace and an global pariah”, a stinging attack on the brash billionaire from a cabinet member in the last Republican administration. “That’s what the 99% believe. When Trump couldn’t keep that up he said he also wanted to see if the certificate noted that he was a Muslim”, Powell wrote.
The hacker group D.C. Leaks released the emails from Powell’s private Gmail account to reporters on Tuesday, the Intercept reported.
On CBS Evening News, they focused mostly on Powell’s displeasure with the Clinton campaign for fingering him as the reason she used a private e-mail server.
Mr Powell, who was USA secretary of state from 2001 to 2005, confirmed to NBC the hacked messages were authentic.
Powell also lampooned Trump’s proposal that he could win over the African-American population.
Powell’s own email use has become a focal point in the controversy surrounding Clinton’s use of a private server.
The email shows Powell telling Democratic donor Jeffrey Leeds that he hopes to avoid having to vote for Hillary Clinton for president, pointing to the New York Post’s coverage of her husband’s alleged affairs.
“He expressed the frustration the core supporters of both candidates feel, as well as those who might not have decided how to vote in the election”, said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. ABC, CBS, and NBC all ignored how Powell accused former President Bill Clinton of “dicking bimbos at home”.
Clinton’s email problems have continued to dog her, with the latest update coming from leaked communications by her predecessor, former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Just last month, Powell suggested that Clinton had shot herself in the foot by not apologising immediately and by dragging out the email story.
Rice praised Woodward and added: “First, we didn’t invade Iraq to bring democracy – but once we overthrew Saddam (Hussein), we had a view of what should follow”.
In an email to President George W. Bush’s other secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, Powell called investigations into the events a “stupid witch hunt”.
Advertisement
Mrs Clinton launched her second bid for the presidency in 2015.
