Hillary Clinton emails: 7 revelations about the presidential candidate
Former secretary of state worries about gefilte fish, watches Parks and Recreation, The Good Wife
Hillary Clinton drinks her tea with skim milk and is concerned about gefilte fish.
These are some of the quirky revelations from the latest batch of the former U.S. secretary of state's emails made available online.
The U.S. Department of State released more than 7,000 pages of Clinton's emails on Monday.
The department releases a batch of Clinton's emails each month as part of a court order initiated by a freedom of information request by Judicial Watch, a self-described "conservative, non-partisan educational foundation."
The department has now released more than 13,000 pages of Clinton's email from the time she served as secretary of state, but used a private email server rather than a government one.
Clinton's run for the Democratic Party nomination for the 2016 U.S. presidency has raised questions about how the emails contents and her use of a private email server could impact her presidential campaign.
Most of the emails seem like routine office chatter — schedules and the frequent forwarding of news articles. But some offer a glimpse into who Clinton is, including her struggle with technology and enjoyment of political dramas.
Gefilte fish concerns
In what some news organizations have dubbed the best email ever written, Clinton asks a five-word question: "Where are we on this?"
This, the subject line explains, is gefilte fish. It's a Jewish dish that translates to stuffed fish. It is traditionally prepared by grinding up the fish flesh, mixing it with some spices and vegetables, stuffing the mixture back into the fish skin and cooking it.
In context, the email isn't as absurd as some have made it seem.
Several days earlier, Clinton received an email from Richard Verma, then assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, forwarding her more information on the dish. It appears Clinton was trying to get an exemption for an Illinois company's shipment of nine containers of carp, a common gefilte fish ingredient, to Israel.
(All images in this story hyperlink to U.S. Department of State PDFs of emails pictured.)
'Ogrish males' on her staff
Not even the secretary of state is immune from experiencing sexism in the workplace. But, one email shows Clinton didn't stand for it while she was in office.
"I for one loved that you finally called out the ogrish males on your staff who roll their eyes at women's issues and events," wrote Philippe Reines, Clinton's deputy assistant secretary of state at the time, in May 2010.
Still, not everyone seemed to take her criticism well.
"But FYI I'm pretty sure I saw [name redacted] roll their eyes at the very moment that you were obviously referring to them," the email continues. "They just don't get it."
Must-watch TV shows
Clinton's clearly a busy woman, but she tries to make time for some relaxation in front of the TV.
In a January 2010 email to Monica Hanley, one of her aides at the time, she asks for the run times of two shows.
"Can you give me times for two TV shows: Parks and Recreation and The Good Wife?" she asked.
Parks and Recreation stars Amy Poehler and follows the antics of politicians in an Indiana town. The Good Wife stars Julianna Margulies as a scorned wife who must return to work as a lawyer after her politician husband is jailed following a corruption and sex scandal.
Clinton would have been a dream guest for Parks and Recreation writer Mike Schur, the Washington Post reported earlier this year. But the political premise of the show, which takes place in 2017, would have made a story arc for her impossible as it would have had to predict her political future.
In the same email, we learn Clinton drinks her tea with skim milk.
Harvey Weinstein fan
Clinton seems to be a fan of producer Harvey Weinstein's work.
In an email asked to be shared with Clinton, Weinstein writes to Capricia Marshall, the Chief of Protocol of the U.S., that he'd love to see the pair next time they're in New York City as he thinks of them "often."
He recalls "fond memories" of them women watching Shakespeare in Love, which he produced. He suggests a new movie of his, The King's Speech, which he thinks they both might like.
"... Hillary would approve because it's PG-13 with not too many swear words," he writes.
After Clinton sees the email, she responds that she would like that movie, and has heard great things about some other movies he is affiliated with.
"... I've heard about some of his other projects from Jamie Patricof (Company Men, Blue Valentine) that also sound great," she responds.
Bank robber look-alike
In late 2010, Clinton was included on an email chain about a man who robbed a Virginia bank wearing a Clinton mask.
David Kendall, who is Clinton's lawyer, joked about the situation, responding with: "She does, uh, have an alibi, I presume?"
Clinton proved her sense of humour, joining the email thread with a few jokes.
"Should I be flattered? Even a little bit?" she asked.
Her alibi, she wrote, "depends on the snow and the secret service. So, subject to cross for sure."
She had questions about the robber's motive.
"Do you think there could by copycats? Do you think the guy chose that mask or just picked up the nearest one?"
She also expressed interest in any future developments in the case.
Bad site, mom
Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, did not care much for her mom's website — even if her mom was her "favourite" secretary of state.
"I have a complaint about the website!" she wrote, under the name Diane Reynolds, in February 2010. Clinton's daughter used that pseudonym for her email address with the Clintonemail.com domain, the New York Times reported.
"I can't see video of your talks or q&a sessions — only the text! I think there should be links to the news' versions if there is not state-created footage."
Clinton, for her part, did ask her aide Huma Abedin to look into the complaint for her.
iPad lessons
Clinton seems to have received her first iPad in June 2010, but didn't yet know how to use it at the time.
Her aide, Abedin, emailed to let Clinton know her iPad had arrived.
In response, Clinton said: "This is exciting news -- do you think you can teach me to use it on the flight to [Kyiv] next week?"
Assuming Clinton was flying direct from New York, she would have roughly 10 hours to learn the ins and outs of the device.
The following month, Clinton needed more technological help.
She asks for help using the news app Pulse, charging her device and figuring out if she can access a Wi-Fi connection.
With files from The Associated Press