Politics

Clinton Camp Wondered If Dem Candidate Would Be A ‘Pain In The Ass’ To Hillary

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
Font Size:

Clinton campaign adviser and Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden asked a local political adviser if New York Democratic congressional candidate would present a problem to Hillary Clinton.

An e-mail communication dated March 4, 2016 that included Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta included a conversation about the New York congressional Democratic primary race for the state’s 19th district between liberal icon Zephyr Teachout and Will Yandik.

“Is terry teachout running in your CD?,” Tanden asked, mistaking the identity of the political candidate for the Wall Street Journal drama critic and Duke Ellington biographer.

“Zephyr. Yes. Big problem,” Zan responded and began to complain about Zephyr’s primary opponent saying, “But I got mad at our guy bc he has weak political instincts. I set him up with great connections (not just donors but real strategists) and he failed to follow up etc. Zephyr is going to lose big time here. Our guy would have won but he has no path to win the primary. Ugh. I could go on and on. See I am learning politics from the ground level up. Haha.”

“I need Zephyr to not be a pain in the ass to Hillary,” Tanden replied. “Do you think she would endorse Bernie? Do you have her contact info?”

However, unbeknownst to the Clinton team at the time, Zephyr Teachout had already endorsed Sanders back in December of 2015.

Zan responded: “I don’t have it but maybe you should put [Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand on the case. Gillibrand would not endorse my guy who is homegrown for the district bc she won’t go against a woman (even though I hear she is not a fan of Zephyr). Zephyr would be out of her mind happy to get attention from Gillibrand bc she is very popular here. I bet Z won’t endorse Bernie at this point bc she sees the writing on the wall and it would be crucial to have Hillary support her here in the general if Z indeed wins the primary.”

Zan continued, “But also bc it’s so contentious here: Dems are really split between Bernie and Hillary and it gets nasty. Zephyr would be insane to come out in favor of one or the other at this point in the race. Also here she has to paint herself as a moderate not a progressive bc she can’t win without some crossover. Down ticket voting is her only hope for a win against [Republican candidate John] Faso so she can’t afford to alienate Hillary. But then, people do dumb things all the time.”

Tanden then forwarded the conversation to Podesta telling him, “On zephyr teachout, the woman who primaried [Gov. Andrew] cuomo and is giant hero to liberals in ny. From my dem activist/leader friend on the ground. Zephyr is now running for congress in Hudson NY. Kirsten would be best to call.”

Professor Teachout’s opponent in the general, Republican Assemblyman John Faso slammed Teachout for allowing herself to be “bought out” by the Clinton campaign.

Faso’s campaign released a statement saying, “Using Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand as a surrogate, Clinton officials effectively bought Teachout’s silence despite her endorsement of Sanders in a 2015 op-ed in which she attacked Clinton for her ‘four big corruption problems.’ Published reports describe a Gillibrand fundraising email sent on March 31 on Teachout’s behalf. Clinton would go on to win New York.”

Faso himself went on to say, “When her candidate and his thousands of supporters needed her, Zephyr Teachout sided with the Clinton machine.” He added,  “I’ve heard of selling your birthright for a mess of pottage, but selling out for a measly fundraising email? Our residents deserve an independent voice like Chris Gibson’s. With Zephyr Teachout, they’ll get someone like Clinton, who holds private opinions fundamentally at odds with the public statements she feeds voters on the campaign trail.”

Follow Kerry on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel