Top Aide Mocked Unqualified Clinton Foundation Donor Landing Sensitive Intelligence Job

A newly released email shows that one of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s top aides joked about that fact that a Clinton Foundation donor being appointed to a sensitive government position was wholly unqualified for the job.

In 2011, wealthy businessman Rajiv Fernando was appointed to the State Department’s International Security Advisory Board, despite having zero experience in the board’s policy areas of intelligence, security, and nuclear armaments. What he did have however was a history of donating to Democratic causes, including somewhere between $1 to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.

Emails obtained by ABC earlier this month show that Fernando was appointed to the board at the insistence of Clinton’s chief of staff Cheryl Mills. “It appears there is much more to this story that we’re unaware of,” one Clinton staffer wrote others after ABC inquired about his appointment. “We must protect the Secretary’s and Under Secretary’s name…”

In further emails obtained by McClatchyDC, top Clinton press staffer Philippe Reines seems to admit that Fernando was unqualified and mock the appointment. “Not the most compelling response I’ve ever seen since it’s such a dense topic the board resolves around,” he wrote after receiving a draft statement defending the selection. “Couldn’t he have landed a spot on the President’s Physical Fitness Council?”

[Image via screengrab]
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