House Democrats on the Select Benghazi Committee inadvertently released a transcript of the testimony of Hillary Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal showing he received six-figure yearly payments from pro-Clinton groups, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Blumenthal — the controversial, longtime adviser to both the presumptive Democratic nominee and her husband, former President Bill Clinton — testified that he received $200,000 a year as a consultant for David Brock’s left-wing organizations Media Matters, Correct the Record and American Bridge.
Sidney Blumenthal, center, a longtime adviser to former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, arrives to be deposed by the House Select Committee on Benghazi in the House Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol June 16, 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Monday, House Democrats released a redacted transcript of Blumenthal’s testimony as part of their report, which alleges that criticism of then-Secretary of State Clinton’s response to the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is politically motivated.
“Redacted due to Chairman Gowdy’s refusal to allow release of transcript,” the report states in a note about Blumenthal's testimony. “If released, the transcript would show that Republicans asked Mr. Blumenthal questions about his relationship with Media Matters, David Brock and Correct the Record.”
But the Times reported that “the redaction marks are easily erased by anyone able to use a computer’s cut-and-paste function”:
Once the marks are lifted, the transcript portion reveals some unflattering things for any partisans on the committee, Republican or Democrat. It shows that Republicans did, indeed, leverage their subpoena of Blumenthal for political gain, digging into his financial contracts with David Brock and forcing him to reveal the details of a lucrative financial arrangement that congressional sources would ultimately leak to Fox News. And for Democrats, the exchange exposes once again the absurd amounts of money people in the orbit of the Clintons sometimes seem to rake in just for, well, being in the orbit of the Clintons.
According to the transcript, Blumenthal acknowledged that he is “a consultant” for Brock.
“I have had a very long friendship with the chairman of Media Matters, whose name is David Brock, from before he founded this organization, and I have sustained that friendship,” Blumenthal said. “And he asked me to help provide ideas and advice to him and his organizations.”
Asked how much money he earns from Media Matters, Blumenthal replied, “I’d say it’s about $200,000 a year.”
The Times noted that Brock and Blumenthal met "during the impeachment of Bill Clinton."
Hillary Clinton wanted to hire Blumenthal when she was secretary of state, but President Barack Obama refused to permit Blumenthal to work for his administration.
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Sidney Blumenthal, center, a longtime adviser to former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, arrives to be deposed by the House Select Committee on Benghazi in the House Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol June 16, 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
