WikiLeaks: Clinton Adviser Says Deploy the ‘Brown and Women Pundits’

When Hillary Clinton’s coverage in The New York Times wasn’t going the way the campaign wanted, Clinton ally Neera Tanden advised campaign Chairman John Podesta to gather the “brown and women” pundits to shame The Times with pro-Hillary columns.

The revelation was made in a July 2015 email released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday.

“He also thinks the brown and women pundits can shame the times [sic] and others on social media … They can be emboldened.”

WikiLeaks has been slowly releasing nearly 50,000 emails hacked from Podesta’s Gmail account since Oct. 7. The latest email from Tanden, the head of the Podesta-founded Center for American Progress, is sure to anger some Clinton allies and put the legions of political-correctness cops into ostrich mode.

Tanden and Podesta were apparently discussing ways to soften The New York Times’ coverage of Hillary Clinton. Tanden referred to a method New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg used in 2009 when he ran for a third term.

Bloomberg met directly with Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., she informed Podesta.

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“When bloomberg was having problems w the times he called Arthur schulzburger [sic] and asked for coffee,” Tanden said. “He made the case that they were treating him like a billionaire dilettante instead of Third term mayor. It changed the coverage moderately but also aired the issues in the newsroom so people were more conscious of it. But Arthur is a pretty big wuss so he’s not going to do a lot more than that. Hillary would have to be the one to call.”

That is fairly standard advice when dealing with the media. But Tanden’s next line of advice is shocking. She advised using members of the media — liberal pundits, especially women and persons of color — to bully The Times into softer coverage via a campaign of criticism.

“He also thinks the brown and women pundits can shame the times [sic] and others on social media,” said Tanden. “So cultivating Joan Walsh, [Matt] Yglesias, Allen, perry bacon, Greg Sargent, to defend her is helpful. They can be emboldened. Fwiw — I pushed pir to do this a yr ago.”

“Brown” can be a politically incorrect term for black, Latino, Middle Eastern, or Indian people.

When President George H.W. Bush described his Hispanic grandchildren as “the little brown ones” in August 1988, he was flayed by newspapers and media for the remark.

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“Just saying that means he knows they’re different. He didn’t say, ‘Those are my grandchildren.’ He didn’t just refer to the kids by their names,” said one Hispanic man interviewed by the Associated Press. “That just shows that he’s … insensitive.”

Tanden’s email to Podesta had the subject line “Howard’s advice.” That is a possibly a reference to Howard Wolfson, a Democratic aide to Bloomberg.

The pundits Tanden refers to are well-known liberal and leftist pundits — but until now, it was unclear they were seen as pliable by the Clinton campaign.

Joan Walsh is the editor of Salon. Matt Yglesias is a longtime liberal blogger and works for the liberal digital outlet Vox.

Perry Bacon is an NBC News correspondent and an African-American. Greg Sargent is a liberal columnist for The Washington Post.

It is unclear who “Allen” is.

The term “pir” likely refers to Philippe Reines, a top Clinton aide.