A new batch of leaked emails reveals comments from the former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell accusing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of hubris and labelling Donald Trump a “national disgrace”.
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Buzffeed first reported on the leaked emails, calling attention to the Powell calling the Benghazi hearings a “witch hunt” but also calling Trump a “national disgrace” for his racist comments and role in the birther movement.
Powell, a retired general who served under three Republican presidents, told BuzzFeed that he does not deny the emails’ authenticity.
In the emails Mr Powell says he warned Mrs Clinton’s staff not to try to pull him into the scandal involving her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.
In an exchange last month with a former aide, Powell blasts the so-called “birther” movement that sought to question Obama’s American nationality – and was spearheaded by Trump – as “racist”.
But Powell, didn’t just take Trump to task, he also had a few choice words for Hillary Clinton’s camp.
The mails also showed Powell angry with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her handling of her personal emails as secretary of state.
“I saw email more like a telephone than a cable machine”, Powell wrote a year ago to his business partner Jeffrey Leeds.
Mr. Powell’s emails were posted online this week by the group DC Leaks, and Democrats have been pointing fingers at Russian Federation in the wake of the recent Democratic National Committee hack.
There’s no love lost between Donald Trump and Colin Powell. It may be the latest example of a Russian entity potentially trying to influence the United States presidential election – in July, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it believed Russia was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s internal emails right before they party’s convention.
The series of messages were leaked by the organization DCleaks, which has recently been involved in other hacks involving high-profile public figures. What did not change is the advice and the stern messages that he gave Hillary and her camp regarding her email server. Decrying “friggin record rules”, Powell wrote that he “saw email more like a telephone than a cable machine”. The only personal attack towards a Clinton she reported was Powell saying, “Everything Clinton touches she kind of screws up with hubris”.
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“It’s unfortunate. But I have a lot of respect for Secretary Powell – didn’t always agree with him”, GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said Thursday on “Fox and Friends”. And fellow former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice appeared to agree. “I only revolutionized the information system in the entire State Department”. Fifteen years later they come up with this. “No further comment at this time”, Peggy Cifrino said.
