Sidney Blumenthal was the star of Rep. Trey Gowdy’s questions at today’s Benghazi hearing, pressing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for answers regarding the scope of influence Blumenthal had in her Libya decision making.
Blumenthal goes way back with Hillary, helping her promulgate the narrative of a “vast right wing conspiracy” during her husband’s Presidency, among other things.
He was later a key figure in spreading negative stories regarding Barack Obama during the 2008 Clinton/Obama battle…
As a result, Blumenthal’s fierce loyalty to the Clintons was divisive, subsequently causing Obama, through Chief of Staff at the time Rahm Emanuel, to bar Hillary from working with him at the State Department. Instead, he was hired by the Clinton Foundation.
Blumenthal was financially benefitting from Libya while trying to lobby Clinton…
According to The New York Times:
“As White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel was the one to bring the hammer down on Sidney Blumenthal.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to hire Mr. Blumenthal, a loyal confidant who had helped her promote the idea of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” more than a decade ago. But President Obama’s campaign veterans still blamed him for spreading harsh attacks against their candidate in the primary showdown with Mrs. Clinton last year.
So Mr. Emanuel talked with Mrs. Clinton, said Democrats informed about the situation, and explained that bringing Mr. Blumenthal on board was a no-go. The bad blood among his colleagues was too deep, and the last thing the administration needed, he concluded, was dissension and drama in the ranks. In short, Mr. Blumenthal was out.”
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