Sidney Blumenthal, a fierce supporter of both Clintons, will be joining Hillary Rodham Clinton at the State Department, according to news reports.
Blumenthal, 60, a journalist who was a senior adviser for communications in the Clinton White House, will serve as special adviser to Hillary Clinton and as one of her speechwriters.
The Cable, a foreign policy website, reported the impending appointment Tuesday.
Sidney Blumenthal
A longtime Hillary Clinton confidante, Blumenthal was an adviser to her 2008 presidential campaign.
When he worked for President Clinton, Blumenthal was the administration’s “most celebrated conspiracy theorist,” according to The New York Times.
His efforts at pushing back against Clinton critics, earned Blumenthal the nickname, “Sid Vicious,” in the right-wing media.
Blumenthal’s time at the White House was marked by two legal episodes.
In the first, he and his wife, Jacqueline Jordan Blumenthal, sued the blogger Matt Drudge, for $30 million.
The Blumenthals alleged that Drudge libeled them in a 1997 report that linked Sidney Blumenthal to spousal abuse.
Drudge soon retracted the item, saying he had been given bad information. He later apologized to the Blumenthals, who withdrew the lawsuit. However, they ended up paying Drudge a small amount because they missed a deposition.
In 1998, independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr subpoenaed Blumenthal to testify in connection with the investigation of President Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Blumenthal told the press that he had been called before the grand jury to answer questions as to whether he was using the media to damage the reputations of Starr’s subordinates.
“Ken Starr’s prosecutors demanded to know what I had told reporters and what reporters had told me about Ken Starr’s prosecutors,” Blumenthal said after his testimony. “If they think they have intimidated me, they have failed. And if any journalist here or elsewhere wants to talk to me, I’ll be glad to talk to you.”
In a lengthy 2003 book, The Clinton Wars, Blumenthal looked back on the battles with Starr and other flash points of his time at the White House.
After leaving the administration, Blumenthal returned to a journalism career that he had begun at The New Republic after graduating from Brandeis University in 1969.
Through the years, he has written for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Salon, The Guardian and a lost of other media outlets, as well as written several books.
He is currently a fellow at the New York University Center on Law and Society.
The State Department appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation, will become official after Blumenthal removes himself from other obligations, The Cable reported.
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3 Comments
#1. Michael Mapes 06.25.2009
I think this is a smart move by Hillary. I am also going to pick up his book, I cannot believe I haven’t read it already! I have no doubt that he will be an asset to the state department, and an excellent speech writer for Secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
#2. carolyn 06.29.2009
That is one of the best books I have ever read as I was able to tell him when he
was in Austin for the Book Festival. I thought when I read it that everyone should read it.
Molly Ivins later wrote a column saying the exact same thing!
He is a wonderful writer.
#3. james 07.01.2009
advisor, well, this proves that loyalty to MRS Clinton trumps competency; didn’t he advise her during her campaign for the democratic nomination? And weren’t her advisors blamed for HER failure? Anyone who has read the myriad of books about MRS Clinton should come away with how in charge she is when successful and how dependance on her staff causes her to lose. Well Sydney must be out of funds to accept any position with the incompetent MRS Clinton whose only real success has been her marriage to Bill Clinton.
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