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Colin Powell says he’d ‘rather not’ vote for Clinton

Powell says Clinton is a 'friend' but 'not transformational.'

 

Andrew Couts

Tech

Posted on Sep 14, 2016   Updated on May 26, 2021, 12:35 am CDT

Colin Powell may have “respect” for Hillary Clinton. But that doesn’t mean he has only kind things to say about her—or her husband—in private. 

In an an email published by the website DCLeaks.com—which reportedly may or may not be run by Russian intelligence—and provided to members of the media, Powell said he “would rather not have to vote for [Clinton], although she is a friend I respect.”

That’s where the niceties end, however, as the retired four-star general and former secretary of state appears to criticize the Democratic nominee’s “unbridled ambition” and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, for having extramarital affairs. 

“A 70-year person with a long track record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not transformational, with a husband still dicking bimbos at home (according to the NYP),” Powell said in the July 24, 2014, email to Democratic donor Jeffrey Leeds. (Note: Clinton is currently 68 years old, and she was 66 at the time the email was sent.)

The “dicking bimbos” line appears to be in reference to this July 21, 2014, New York Post article, which reported on findings from author and journalist Ronald Kessler’s book The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of Presidents, in which Kessler claims Bill Clinton has a mistress known as “Energizer” regularly visit the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York.

https://twitter.com/willrahn/status/776100071658098688

Other Powell emails released this week reveal his frustration with both Republican nominee Donald Trump, whom Powell called a “national disgrace,” and Clinton’s handling of the fallout from her use of a private email system during her tenure as secretary of state, which Powell said she made worse because of her “hubris.”

Powell has confirmed to multiple outlets that the leaked emails are authentic. When asked by the Post to confirm the email above, he responded, “Jeez, don’t remember this one. Best to ignore, don’t you think?”

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*First Published: Sep 14, 2016, 5:27 pm CDT