alphabet inc. chairman eric schmidt helped early development of hillary clinton <u+2019>s presidential campaign, according to newly released emails from wikileaks, suggesting executives of google<u+2019>s parent company could retain close ties to a clinton white house. mr. schmidt in april 2014 backed a startup dubbed timshel that helped develop some of the technology behind mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign website, including functions to sign up supporters and accept donations, according to the emails. around that time, mr. schmidt sent a clinton campaign official a lengthy memo with advice on running the campaign. he told campaign officials he was <u+201c>ready to fund, advise recruit talent,<u+201d> and <u+201c>clearly wants to be head outside advisor,<u+201d> according to a 2014 email from clinton campaign chairman john podesta to campaign manager robby mook. mr. schmidt<u+2019>s memo to clinton aide cheryl mills is included in the leaked emails. neither mr. schmidt nor an alphabet spokeswoman responded to a request for comment. the clinton campaign has declined to verify the authenticity of emails released by wikileaks, which says it favors more transparency in government and other institutions. it is not clear how wikileaks obtained the emails, but the clinton campaign and the obama administration have said the hacks are part of a campaign by russia to influence the election. a timshel spokeswoman said in an email that it develops technology <u+201c>to help nonprofits, foundations, social entrepreneurs and social-impact organizations build and activate communities.<u+201d> mr. schmidt is a longtime donor to the democratic party and endorsed mrs. clinton earlier this year. he has also maintained close ties to the obama administration , including during the federal trade commission<u+2019>s antitrust probe of google in 2012. the ftc ultimately closed its investigation after google made voluntary changes, despite an ftc staff report that recommended the agency bring charges against the internet giant. mr. schmidt<u+2019>s work for mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign could mean that alphabet <u+2014>the world<u+2019>s second-largest company by market value, after apple inc. <u+2014>could once again enjoy a close relationship with the executive branch if mrs. clinton is elected. the ftc has recently looked into industry concerns that google abuses the dominance of its android mobile operating software. mr. schmidt<u+2019>s 2014 memo to clinton aide ms. mills on running a campaign included several tips on technology, including that the campaign create files to amass data on each potential voter and that it should store its data and systems in <u+201c>the cloud,<u+201d> or remote servers, to help staffers be more mobile. mr. schmidt suggested using amazon web services as a cloud provider. amazon.com inc. <u+2019>s cloud service is the chief rival of google<u+2019>s cloud product. in the memo, the leader of one of the world<u+2019>s most powerful companies expounded on the basics of running a campaign to veteran political operatives. mr. schmidt wrote that the campaign should consider a headquarters where it could attract young, talented workers; it should aim to measure the impact of media coverage; and it should equip its volunteers with smartphones to use in the field. <u+201c>if we get started soon, we will be in a very strong position to execute well for 2016,<u+201d> he wrote. write to jack nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
alphabet<u+2019>s eric schmidt gave advice to clinton campaign, leaked emails show         - wsj
jack nicas