Clinton confidante sent email to Hillary calling Boehner "alcoholic, lazy"

WASHINGTON -- Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidante of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, referred to House Speaker John Boehner as an “alcoholic” in a e-mail to Clinton in 2010 when she was secretary of state.

In a fresh batch of e-mails released Monday by the State Department, Blumenthal, a onetime journalist and Clinton loyalist, often provided political advice to Secretary Clinton. President Barack Obama’s advisers blocked Mrs. Clinton in 2009 from naming Blumenthal to a State Department job, in part because he has a reputation for being abrasive,

On the day the Republicans seized control of the U.S. House in 2010, Blumenthal wrote “Boehner is despised by the younger, more conservative members of the House Republican Conference. They are repelled by his personal behavior. He is louche, alcoholic, lazy, and without any commitment to any principle. Boehner has already tried to buy the members with campaign contributions and committee assignments, which he has already promised to potentially difficult members.”

Of the 4,368 Clinton e-mails released Monday, 306 belonged to Blumenthal.

Emily Schillinger, a Boehner spokeswoman said the “the fact is the only reason that the mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton and her staff has been exposed is because of Speaker Boehner's decision to create the select committee and our members' diligence and hard work.”