WASHINGTON — Busy as they were, Hillary Clinton’s aides found time to constantly compliment their boss’ appearance, according to the latest batch of e-mails released by the State Department.
When a photo of Clinton on her Blackberry started lighting up the Internet in April 2012, an aide forwarded it to Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills under the subject line, “Photo gone viral!”
Mills passed it along to Clinton, who wanted to know why it was so popular.
“You look cute,” responded Mills.
Undersecretary Judith McHale wrote her boss in May 2012 that she had seen an article mentioning how good Clinton’s hair looked.
“Fun seeing the great press you are getting on all things sartorial and hair related! Who would have thunk it in this stage of our lives,” McHale said.
And when a magazine featured Clinton on the cover, press aide Philippe Reines described the photo as “spectacular.” Longtime aide Huma Abedin agreed, chiming in, “It’s gorgeous.”
Another email showed Clinton offering advice on how to beat jury duty.
In an August 2011 note, aide Jake Sullivan engaged in email banter with Clinton while cooling his heels in a jury room duty.
“I’m hanging out in a windowless room at the courthouse,” Sullivan complained.
“Look and sound eager–you’ll be viewed as too crazy for either side to pick…” Clinton responded.
But Sullivan had his own game plan.
“My prosecutor friend told me I simply have to say I trust cops,” he said.
Clinton’s reply: “Perfect!”
Another email, forwarded by outside advisor Sidney Blumenthal, passed on some dirt from John Kornblum, Bill Clinton’s ambassador to Germany, on a candidate up for a top job in the State Department.
The candidate’s name was removed, one of numerous redactions in the email trove.
“Just for the record, if she [ Hillary Clinton] does not already know it, [redacted]’s one of the biggest jerks in the foreign service,” Kornblum wrote, in the information passed on by Blumenthal.
“Not only can he not get along with people or think clearly on anything, he also went over totally to the dark side during the Bush administration. He is in league with [redacted] on this one.”