Hillary Clinton operatives' emails leaked: 'Punish those voters'

11/16/2014

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ABC News has obtained secret emails from Hillary Clinton operatives that show the type of dirty campaign that can be expected from the former Secretary of State.

ABC News

ABC News has obtained leaked emails and a secret email list containing the names ofHillary Clinton operatives, known as the "Mook Mafia." The list is named for Robby Mook, who has worked on various Democratic campaigns and has been mentioned as a possible campaign manager for Clinton in 2016. The email list was also maintained with Marlon Marshal, now an Obama White House aide. 

It went out to about 150 campaign and political operatives, according to ABC. 

Contents of the eye-opening emails were published yesterday by ABC, and may give voters an insight into the dirty 2016 presidential campaignClinton intends to run.

Many of the emails contain explicit language, and are packed with mafia references. In one of the emails announcing that Marshall was taking a new job, Mook wrote: "I know this prodical [sic] son will return to the mafia manger soon enough to smite Republicans mafia-style."

Mook worked on Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, and was the campaign manager for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe during his successful 2013 campaign.

Marshall also wrote in the email that he would not be departing permanently: "First, the mafia never separates, it just continues to grow and expand and move into other states in order to destroy Republicans."

In another email, sent during the 2010 special election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated due to the death of Ted Kennedy, Marshall wrote, "F U Republicans. Mafia till I die. If you have just a few minutes, hop on that activate and punish those voters!"

The ABC report says that “activate” was likely referring to a software program that lets volunteers call voters from anywhere in the country.

Marshall worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, and then joined the Obama campaign after the primaries. He has also worked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and is currently serving as the principal deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

The emails obtained by ABC News, and revealed publicly for the first time yesterday, contain aggressive language, and "sometimes border on being profane," according to the report.

Mook advised the operatives in one email to, "smite Republicans mafia-style," and, to quote Marshall, "punish those voters." Mook sometimes calls himself "Deacon" in the emails, while Marshall, now a senior White House aide, refers to himself as "Reverend."

The report says ABC obtained the private emails from a Democrat on the email list "who has worked alongside Mook and Marshall on previous campaigns. The person who provided the emails is, like the vast majority of those on the listserv, supportive of Hillary Clinton, but does not support the idea of Mook or Marshall holding leadership roles in a second presidential bid. They were provided on the condition of anonymity."

ABC News says it reached out to both men for comments Thursday morning, but neither Mook nor Marshall responded.

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