In personal emails leaked Wednesday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell lambasted Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for pointing to his example to justify her use of a private email server during her time in the Cabinet.
BuzzFeed News, The Intercept and The Daily Caller were among the first to report on the emails, which were released by DCLeaks.com. Powell told The Daily Caller he was unaware that his personal Gmail account had been hacked. However Peggy Cifrino, a Powell aide, confirmed to CNN that the emails are accurate.
Clinton has faced criticism, an FBI investigation and a public call for criminal charges for using a private email server to send emails, sometimes with sensitive information, during her tenure as secretary of state. She served in that capacity from 2009 to 2013.
Authorities declined to press charges against Clinton based on a recommendation from FBI director James Comey.
Although Powell has said little publicly about the scandal, he expressed frustration over the turn of events in emails sent from his private Gmail account. He has not endorsed Clinton or Republican rival Donald Trump.
"HRC could have killed this two years ago by merely telling everyone honestly what she had done and not tie me into it," Powell wrote in an email sent Aug. 28. "I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hampton's party to get their attention. She keeps tripping into these 'character' minefields."
Although he said he respects Clinton as a friend, he also said in an email that "everything HRC touches, she kind of screws up with hubris."
In multiple messages, Powell fumed over his name being linked to "emailgate."
"I have told (Hillary's) minions repeatedly that they are making a mistake trying to drag me in, yet still they try," Powell wrote in an email sent in May to Democratic consultant Vernon Jordan. "The media isn't fooled and she is getting crucified. The differences are profound and they know it."
As recently as last week, Democrats were pointing to Powell's influence to show that her decision to use a private server was not the first. House Democrats released emails between Powell and Clinton on Sept. 7 and claimed they showed "a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records."
Further, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings said in a statement, "If Republicans were truly concerned with transparency, strengthening FOIA, and preserving federal records, they would be attempting to recover Secretary Powell's emails from AOL, but they have taken no steps to do so."
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