© Brendan Smialowski / Agence France-PresseJohn Podesta, Clinton Campaign Chairman.
This is the first time the whistleblower website has published two batches of the Podesta emails in the same day, following the release of 1,193 messages earlier on Wednesday.
WikiLeaks claims to have 50,000 messages in total, and has been releasing them since last Friday. The previous releases have revealed the campaign's cozy relationship with the media, resentment at the primary campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, attack strategies targeting Republican candidate Donald Trump, disparaging comments about Catholics and Southerners, and even talk of space aliens.
Wall Street
In January 2016, Clinton speechwriter Dan Schwerin emailed Jennifer Palmieri about handling Wall Street and Sanders in an upcoming speech,"In particular, she's keen to find a way to keep going after him on Wall Street [she's convinced his plan is naive and unworkable] as part of a broader indictment," he said.
"I liked messing with Bernie on wall street at a staff level for the purposes of muddying the waters and throwing them off their game a bit," she said. "But don't know that it is most effective contrast for her. Seems like we are picking the fight he wants to have."
Communications advisor Mandy Grunwald replied, "I agree with you. Bernie wants a fight on a Wall Street. We should not give him one. Our polling shows this is one of our weakest areas. Further, our Wall Street approach has always been to agree about the problem, show passion about it, and say we have a better approach to holding the rascals accountable."
"We don't need to prove he's bad on Wall Street - that's not really credible. We need to prove we're ok. Most of all, we don't want this fight," she added.
Relationship With Media
In another example of the media's cozy relationship with the campaign, a February email chain between Patrick Healy of the New York Times and the Clinton campaign with the subject line, 'Hi Angel and Tina -- running stuff by you re Clinton/Trump', discussed details of a story about how the campaign viewed Trump.
"We're told that President Clinton [like Mrs. Clinton and some other Dems] thinks that Trump would be a formidable opponent in the general election, and that Dems are in a form of denial if they dismiss Trump as a joke who would be easily defeated in November," the email reads.
"President Clinton, like others, thinks that Trump has his finger on the pulse of the electorate's mood and that only a well-financed, concerted campaign portrayed him as dangerous and bigoted will win what both Clintons believe will be a close November election."
The Clinton campaign was worried about the journalist's plans to mention "President Clinton, like Secretary Clinton and some others, think Trump could pose a real threat in battleground states that President Obama carried in 2008 and 2012 - like Virginia and Ohio - and he will be competitive in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin."
"I think the first point is ok, but don't love pointing to states where we think he'll do well, unless that's just a total done deal," Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds said.
In a mail from Neera Tanden from July 2015 "AP" are thanked for their help in diffusing an unmentioned situation. The mail came a day after the New York Times revealed that two mails in a small sample from Clinton's private server that were being investigated had contained top secret information.
"Tide does seem to be shifting a bit on this, great work by the press shop. Cummings is helpful as is AP," possibly referring to the Associated Press and Elijah Cummings, a member of the House Oversight Committee who accused the Republican chairman of misusing the power of the committee to adversely influence Clinton's bid for presidency.
"I do think that if Hillary doesn't speak to this today, people will assume she's guilty though," Tanden said in the mail. "With normal people, if you are accused of being a criminal, they expect you to deny it pronto."
A December 2015 email from Mary Pat Bonner contains attachments listing the accomplishments of two organizations, Correct the Record (CTR) and American Bridge - which formally separated in May that year, but obviously continue to work together through Bonner.
The arrangement "allows CTR to retain its independence but coordinate directly and strategically with the Hillary campaign. This work is necessary now more than ever," according to the attached documents.
CTR has "helped write and place 36 op-eds across the country in a number of publications including Politico, Times Union, Huffington Post, CNN, Washington Blade, and New Jersey's Bergen Record," the attachment says.
CTR staff have given more than 900 media interviews in order to counter Republican attacks on Clinton and even "kill negative stories before they are even published."
In a June 10, 2016 email exchange with Clinton's special assistant Milia Fisher, Podesta is suggesting a better quote to go with a fundraising email - which is entirely based on a puff piece in the Washington Post, published the day before. The point of the story was that the campaign is so thrifty that Podesta and other staff take the bus.
"You have my word that we're going to use your grassroots donations as wisely as we can to help make Hillary Clinton the 45th president of the United States. That means no luxury travel, no fancy office furniture, and no overpriced phone systems that we don't need," goes the pitch.
In another instance, an email from Huma Abedin to Podesta and other staffers highlights the campaign's constant awareness of media optics.
"We ordered Indian," Abedin writes. "Please come in for drinks and food when we get to house if you can. Cameras are there so behave accordingly :)"
Damage Control & Bill
It also shows Bill Clinton as out of touch with the public regarding an anecdote he told claiming "somebody making $110k per year" would struggle financially.
In a mail from Hillary's campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin he warns Bill's press secretary Angel Ureña about the potential damage the comment could do if used in public.
Clinton & the Middle Class
An email from 2015 about the upcoming December 19 primary recommends the campaign removes a reference to Clinton visiting middle class homes from the planned talking points - due to the fact Clinton had not done that.
"On the middle class tax cut. I wouldn't say 'I've been in their homes,'" Grunwald said. "HRC has not really done a lot of that this year. Also, there is something pejorative about 'the 'these' in "these people don't need a tax hike."
Among the emails released on Wednesday afternoon are revelations on how the campaign has crafted Clinton's message, from speeches and tweets to op-eds, as well as some lighter stuff about international travel.
Long speeches and 'spontaneous' tweets
The March 7, 2015 email from Podesta to Clinton aide Cheryl Mills contains a draft of Clinton's first official statement about using a private email server, drafted by Philippe Reines. Clinton delivered the explanation about the "simplicity of using one device" three days later, on March 10.
One email chain deals with the need to keep Clinton's speeches short. When Dan Schwerin sends along a 515-word draft for a speech for Iowa, in January 2016, Clinton aide Huma Abedin replies with, "you know i love you people very much and you are the smartest minds in america but this is LONG. this will be impossible to nail without a podium."
Podesta responds with, "How did we get from 45 seconds to this?"
On March 9, 2016, Podesta's assistant Milia Fisher sent out for approval a list of tweets to accompany the upcoming Univision debate between Clinton and Sanders, ending with, "As always, call me if you'd like to add any spontaneity to the mix!"
Aiming for both Sanders and Trump
As with previous releases, there are a number of emails discussing Bernie Sanders and his bid to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
In an email dated March 20, 2014, Mark Siegel, a former executive director of the DNC, advised Tamera Luzzatto, who previously worked with Hillary Clinton, on how best to keep the "Bernie people... marginally on board."
"If we 'give' Bernie this in the Convention's rules committee, his people will think they've 'won' something from the Party Establishment," Siegel wrote. "And it functionally doesn't make any difference anyway. They win. We don't lose. Everyone is happy."
Also included is an email chain which followed the outrage over the Iowa caucus being decided on a coin toss back in February. Tina Flourney forwarded CNN Director of Political Research Robert Yoon's email explaining the format to Robbie Mook.
"And now he's fundraising off of it," Flourney said, referring to the Sanders campaign.
"Yet again, they fundraise off of lies. Christina is pushing this around," Mook replied.
The op-ed on gun control, solicited by the New York Daily News, took several days and multiple edits to hammer out, according to the email chain starting on March 15, 2016
"Should we directly hit Sanders in this NYDN oped right now? I'm a bit skeptical," Podesta wrote at one point.
"My theory is that we do not want to be in a one on one with Trump - but want to hit him occasionally," communications director Jennifer Palmieri responded. "In which case, we also need to be hitting Sanders occasionally so we can credibly say we are not only focused on the general."
"I think we should do the oped [because] NYDN really cares about it and they offered us the space. So good politics on a few fronts," Palmieri concludes at the end of the chain.
Sanders and the teachers' union
Campaign manager Robbie Mook sent an email on July 11, 2015, quipping that Sanders is "in for a very frustrating fall" after the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Clinton. An email chain earlier in the day showed the Clinton campaign getting live updates from the AFT meeting that discussed the endorsement, which was seen as a done deal.
"I understand there will be some debate and will not be unanimous but we are on track," wrote Nikki Budzinski, the campaign's labor outreach coordinator.
'Hosing down' supporters on DOMA
In October 2015, when questions arose about Bill Clinton signing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, the campaign scrambled to put forth a statement how the country has since "evolved" on the issue of same-sex marriage.
"I have no understanding of the issue - but clear this has a head of steam," wrote Palmieri, adding, "we need a plan for how to hose down anxious friends."
The Taiwan junket
In August 2015, Podesta urged Clinton aide Jake Sullivan to take a "free trip to Taiwan with [Tom] Daschle", referring to former US Senator from South Dakota who worked as a Washington lobbyist.
When Sullivan replied "I think we're okay!" Podesta shot back, "Don't be such a scrooge. One of your kids might like a free trip."
The Democrats have not challenged the authenticity of the emails, choosing instead to claim the existence of a nefarious Russian plot. Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon called WikiLeaks "a propaganda arm of the Russian government, running interference for their pet candidate, Trump."
Comment: Zero Hedge's Tyler Durden weighs in: