Despite being barred from working at the State Department, Hillary Clinton's long-time political aide Sidney Blumenthal helped facilitate a lucrative contract deal between a small government agency that then-Secretary of State Clinton chaired and former ambassador Joe Wilson, according to emails released by the State Department Tuesday.
In November 2009, acting on behalf of the company Symbion Power, Wilson directly lobbied Clinton by sending Blumenthal an email pitch asking that it be forwarded to Clinton. Wilson was trying to get Symbion Power a deal to provide electricity to the African country of Tanzania.
Blumenthal, who was employed by the Clinton Foundation, immediately forwarded the pitch, which also included a request to meet with Clinton.
Clinton responded to Blumenthal's email shortly thereafter, however the contents of that email were redacted and retroactively classified, with the government citing national security concerns.
Less than a year later, the small federal agency at which Clinton served as chair of the board, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), awarded Wilson's company a $50 million contract to provide electricity throughout Tanzania.
That lobbying effort is not included in any federal lobbying records held by the U.S. Senate, reports The Daily Caller.
Here is the email sent from Wilson to Blumenthal:
"Sid,
Could you please pass the following to HRC. Thanks. Joe
Dear Madame Secretary,
When we last spoke at the Corporate Council on Africa you were kind enough to invite me to pay a call on you when in DC. As it turns out, I will be in Washington for most of next week, arriving the afternoon of the 16th and returning to Santa Fe the evening of the 20th ( the return is flexible if you were available to see me over the weekend.) I realize that you are traveling this week and possibly into next, but I wanted to reach out to you. As I wrote to you earlier, I am a director for Symbion Power and may soon assume more direct responsibility for all of Africa as Symbion expands there from its current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Symbion's competitive advantage is its reliance on local partnering and human capacity development in the execution of its projects. Its success in the most difficult and dangerous environments has been very impressive, as the four minute video that Sid gave to you on my behalf demonstrates. We now want to bring that business model and philosophy to Africa where the social entrepreneurship and the development of skilled labor is imperative for Africa's long term economic prospects, as you have so forcefully articulated in past comments.
I am very enthusiastic about Symbion. It is one or the very few American companies outside the petroleum sector willing to establish itself and to undertake projects in Africa. With our record of success elsewhere, we are certain that our approach to project development and execution will mesh nicely with African needs and U.S. policy priorities.
Valerie, Trevor and Samantha join me in extending our best wishes to you, Bill, and Chelsea as we enter the holiday season."
After the contract was awarded, Clinton gave a speech at Symbion's Dar es Salaam plant in Tanzania in 2011, where she was joined by MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes and Symbion CEO Paul Hinks. Wilson, who is the husband of CIA employee Valerie Plame Wilson, was not mentioned during the event, according to The Daily Caller.
Blumenthal had been banned from working at the State Department due to a smear campaign he waged against President Obama during his presidential campaign. Nonetheless, Clinton brought him on to the family's charitable foundation, where he earned $10,000 per month as a full-time employee. Blumenthal continued to offer frequent advice to Clinton on various intelligence matters. Clinton claims his advice was unsolicited, but newly revealed emails show that it was at the very least encouraged by Clinton, who repeatedly asked him to keep sending information.
