Sidney Blumenthal, the former journalist turned Clinton crony, was paid $10,000 per month by the Clinton Foundation at the same time that he was sending intelligence reports to Sec. of State Hillary Clinton on her off-the-books email account.
According to Politico, Blumenthal was brought on in 2009 at the request of Bill Clinton and remained on the payroll until March 2013, just after Hillary Clinton left office.
The quintessential Beltway insider, Blumenthal was famously prohibited by the Obama White House from taking an official job under Clinton at State because of his negative campaign tactics during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.
While working at the Clinton’s family charity, Blumenthal was gathering intelligence from his network of sources to share with Hillary. Emails released by the State Department on Friday show that Blumenthal emailed Clinton at least 25 intelligence reports about Libya and Benghazi.
The New York Times recently reported that Blumenthal provided Clinton with intelligence which would have benefited two business associated seeking lucrative contracts in the war-torn nation.
As the emails show, Blumenthal sent Clinton one report on Sept. 12, 2012, the day after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, blaming it on a “sacrilegious internet video.” A day later he forwarded another report which attributed the attack, which left four Americans dead, on organized terror.
Clinton often shared Blumenthal’s intel. Records show that she forwarded some to her top aides with instructions such as “Pls print.”
Clinton denied last week that the emails from Blumenthal signified anything untoward. She called Blumenthal “a friend of mine for a long time” and said that “he sent me unsolicited emails which I passed on in some instances.”
Blumenthal has been subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Likewise, Clinton will testify before the committee at some point.