Weinstein and Clinton attending
the premiere of “Finding Neverland” on October 25, 2004 in New York City.
Hacked emails
show that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, a longtime ally of Hillary
Clinton and a major fundraiser for her 2016 campaign, urged
her campaign team to silence rival Bernie Sanders’s message against
police shootings of African-Americans. He suggested countering it with “the
Sandy Hook issue” — a reference to Sanders’s opposition to lawsuits against gun
manufacturers.
The emails were
released by the group DCLeaks, which in the past has shared hacked emails from
U.S. political and military figures. The U.S. Intelligence Community announced Friday that it is “confident
that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails” that
were made public “on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer
2.0 online persona.”
The Weinstein emails
were among a large number of messages DCLeaks made public on Thursday, from the
gmail account of Capricia Marshall, a close Clinton confidant who worked for
her in the White House and the State Department, and worked on her 2008 campaign.
In an April 10
email sent to Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, just days before the
New York primary, Weinstein invited Mook to meet up. He pointed to a
Sanders ad featuring Erica Garner — the daughter of
Eric Garner, who was killed by New York City police officers —
as well as growing support for Sanders among Latino activist leaders.
“I’m probably telling you what you know already, but that needs to be silenced,
probably with the Sandy Hook issue,” he wrote:
Mook wrote back
replying to Weinstein’s offer to meet up and discuss strategy: “Are you
kidding? Let’s do it! I’m here all week. This is all hands on
deck–it’s must win! Would tomorrow or Tuesday work?”
Throughout the
primary, Clinton repeatedly assailed Sanders for his vote to limit legal liability for gun
manufacturers, specifically claiming that vote was preventing the families
of victims of the Sandy Hook massacre from successfully suing the industry. It
was a feature of her attack on Sanders during their
final debate in New York on April 14.
Sanders, meanwhile,
countered with his otherwise strong support for gun control measures — and
this incredibly powerful ad:
Weinstein is a
prominent New York City-based film executive who co-founded Miramax Pictures and the Weinstein
Company with his brother Bob. He is currently producing a documentary that will
highlight the need for prison reform with the rapper Jay Z.
It was not the only
instance in the hacked emails where Weinstein discussed political strategy
with the campaign. On February 17, Weinstein sent Mook and Marshall a
David Brooks column titled “Livin’ Bernie Sanders’s Danish Dream,” where the
conservative columnist chastised Sanders for wanting to adopt much higher taxes
as well as an expansive welfare state.
“This
article gives you everything I discussed with you yesterday. You have the name
of an economist, you have a great NY Times writer and you have a number from
the WSJ. Let’s discuss,” Weinstein wrote.
“About to forward
some creative. Took your idea and ran,” Mook wrote back. “Yes – this is good!”
Marshall responded.
On April 17, Brad
Thompson, a senior vice president of corporate communications
at Weinstein’s company, sent an email to Mook and other Clinton aides
highlighting some press clips of Weinstein praising Clinton
and making remarks critical of Sanders. “Harvey got some solid press
coverage from his CBS This Morning appearance on Friday. I hope you got a
chance to see it – if not, below is the video link and the press pick-up.
Harvey and I both can’t thank you enough for helping prep for this interview.
Your advice was spot on – especially relating it back to his conversations with
his daughter,” Thompson wrote.
The Clinton campaign
and Weinstein did not respond to requests for comment.
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