Elections

Claim: Dem Senator Said Hillary Could ‘Barely’ Climb Podium Steps

REUTERS/Jason Reed.

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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Even before Hillary Clinton started running for president, her non-stop schedule was having a negative effect on her.

That’s according to a candid assessment revealed in emails leaked from retired Gen. Colin Powell’s Gmail account. The documents were published on the website DC Leaks, an anonymously-run website that publishes emails hacked from politicians and military figures.

“On HD tv she doesn’t look good. She is working herself to death,” Powell, a former secretary of state, wrote to Democratic donor and private equity investor Jeffrey Leeds in a March 14, 2015 email.

Leeds, who donated to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, wrote back to share information he obtained regarding Clinton’s condition from Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

“Sheldon Whitehouse, who is a huge Clinton supporter, said they were both giving speeches at the same event a few months back and she could barely climb the podium steps,” he told Powell.

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The Daily Caller and several other news outlets were granted access to the Powell documents, which span from June 2014 to last month. Powell confirmed the authenticity of the documents to TheDC’s Peter Hasson.

Powell’s exchange with Leeds would have meant a lot less were it revealed last month or even last week. But Clinton’s condition and health became a legitimate cause for concern on Sunday after the former secretary of state fainted after leaving a 9/11 memorial service in New York City.

Clinton’s campaign was forced to acknowledge that Clinton was suffering from pneumonia, which she had been diagnosed with two days before.

Clinton has fainted several times over the years. In 2005, as a New York Senator, she fainted during a constituent event. She later said that she was dehydrated and had been suffering from a stomach virus. In 2012, as secretary of state, Clinton fainted and hit her head, causing her to sustain a concussion and blood clot.

Clinton and her surrogates downplayed the most recent fainting spell by blaming her break-neck work pace.

TheDC reached out to Whitehouse’s Senate staff about Leeds’ comments to Powell and will update with any response.

Leeds’ email offers other candid assessments. In it, he states that Clinton “HATES that the President…kicked her ass in 2008.” He added that the Clintons refer to Obama dersively as “that man.” (RELATED: Dem Megadonor Tells Colin Powell The Clintons ‘Hate’ Obama For 2008 Loss)

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