former president bill clinton has been seen as an asset but also a concern for his wife<u+2019>s campaign, with aides worrying about his paid speeches, battling his team over his fundraising role, and monitoring what he says in his appearances on the trail, hacked emails posted by wikileaks suggest. the internal messages depict a hillary clinton team that is eager to maximize her husband<u+2019>s value while navigating the pitfalls that surround a two-term president who has a legacy to protect, a complex history and his own ideas on how to win. the clinton campaign has declined to confirm or deny the emails<u+2019> authenticity. managing mr. clinton has tested her campaign and could prove a continuing challenge should she win in november and assign her husband a substantive role in her administration, as she has vowed to do. republican nominee donald trump has sought to make mr. clinton, especially his dealings with women, a central campaign issue, prompting mrs. clinton<u+2019>s allies to point out that he isn't the one on the ballot. but it is clear from the emails that mr. clinton is a formidable presence inside the campaign itself, talking frequently to his wife<u+2019>s campaign manager, robby mook, and other senior advisers. these aides often see him as a major asset. an email from mr. mook in october 2015 reported a phone call from mr. clinton that led to a <u+201c>bigger conversation<u+201d> about fundraising. <u+201c>he said he<u+2019>s willing to put in a lot more time<u+201d> through year<u+2019>s end, mr. mook wrote. but mr. clinton<u+2019>s role has also caused headaches, as his interests and agenda bump up against his wife<u+2019>s campaign strategy. tension emerged from the outset of mrs. clinton<u+2019>s presidential run. mr. clinton had planned to deliver a paid speech to investment bank morgan stanley on the heels of the campaign launch, an email exchange from march 2015 reveals. both mr. mook and campaign chairman john podesta worried about that timing and how it would look. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s begging for a bad rollout,<u+201d> mr. mook wrote. huma abedin, a longtime aide to mrs. clinton, initially reported that mrs. clinton <u+201c>very strongly did not want him to cancel that particular speech.<u+201d> but mr. mook held firm, saying the talk would coincide with mrs. clinton<u+2019>s first day of campaigning in iowa, where polls showed wall street to be especially unpopular. <u+201c>i recognize the sacrifice and disappointment that cancelling will create, but it<u+2019>s a very consequential unforced error and could plague us in stories for months,<u+201d> mr. mook wrote. <u+201c>this is a very big deal in my view.<u+201d> mrs. clinton ultimately yielded to her campaign aides<u+2019> insistence that her husband cancel the speech. then, two days before the feb. 9 new hampshire primary, mr. clinton veered off-script and unleashed a harsh attack on his wife<u+2019>s primary opponent, sen. bernie sanders. mrs. clinton was trailing in the polls in new hampshire, and the former president<u+2019>s frustration was evident as he suggested the vermont senator was a hypocrite and his supporters sexist. with voters poised to go to the polls, mr. clinton<u+2019>s angry remarks, rather than his wife<u+2019>s message, became the story. tina flournoy, mr. clinton<u+2019>s chief of staff, wasn<u+2019>t happy about it, the emails suggest. after the speech, she sent a note to mr. podesta. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s losing it bad today,<u+201d> ms. flournoy wrote. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m not with him. if you<u+2019>re in nh please see if you can talk to him.<u+201d> such episodes contrast with mr. clinton<u+2019>s own presidential campaigns in 1992 and 1996, when he was considered a natural campaigner with strong political instincts. mr. mook said in a recent interview that mr. clinton is a big help to the campaign. <u+201c>what<u+2019>s great about him is he<u+2019>s probably one of our most versatile surrogates,<u+201d> mr. mook said. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s incredibly popular with democrats, but his appeal stretches pretty far<u+2026>.<u+201d> mr. clinton<u+2019>s office declined to comment friday. the clinton campaign reiterated that it wouldn<u+2019>t confirm the veracity of the emails apparently stolen from mr. podesta<u+2019>s private account. the federal bureau of investigation suspects russian intelligence agencies are behind the hack but haven<u+2019>t reached a definitive conclusion, according to people briefed on the investigation. mr. podesta has said he is in contact with the fbi about the matter. several national-security experts, speaking friday on a phone call organized by the clinton campaign, urged mr. trump to criticize russia<u+2019>s alleged role in the hacking, saying it marked an unprecedented intrusion by another country in the u.s. democratic process. <u+201c>this is [russian president vladimir] putin, at the end of the day,<u+201d> former central intelligence agency acting director mike morell said on the call. <u+201c>this is not some bureaucratic part of the russian government. this is the russian president.<u+201d> the leaks suggest a further conflict between the two clinton teams in october 2015, reflected in an email conversation about how the former president could help with the campaign<u+2019>s fundraising and outreach efforts. at the top of the campaign<u+2019>s wish list was a contest in which one campaign donor would get to meet the former president. <u+201c>as you know our top ask continues to be and is the contest,<u+201d> aide sara latham wrote in an email to mr. clinton<u+2019>s chief of staff. <u+201c>tina<u+2014>do you think there is any period of time where this would be possible?<u+201d> after repeated entreaties, ms. flournoy rejected the idea, writing, <u+201c>none of us like it<u+2014>as i keep saying.<u+201d> campaign aide teddy goff urged his colleagues on mrs. clinton<u+2019>s team to push back. <u+201c>i know everyone knows this, but just want to reinforce again that refusing to do a contest is a multi-million dollar decision by almost any projection<u+2014>probably many millions,<u+201d> mr. goff wrote. in a later email, ms. latham relayed ms. flournoy<u+2019>s concerns about mr. clinton<u+2019>s involvement in the contest. <u+201c>they just don<u+2019>t like the notion of a contest,<u+201d> ms. latham wrote. <u+201c>think it<u+2019>s cheesy, and want to protect his brand.<u+201d> <u+2014>allison kite and damian paletta contributed to this article. write to peter nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com and colleen mccain nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com
hacked emails show hillary clinton team trying to navigate bill clinton - wsj
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