Sidney Blumenthal
Sidney Blumenthal (pronounced /ˈbluːmənθɔːl/, born November 6, 1948) is a former aide to President Bill Clinton and a widely published American journalist, especially on American politics and foreign policy.
Born in Chicago, he earned a BA in sociology from Brandeis University in 1969 and started his career in Boston as a journalist who wrote for The New Republic. Over a career of twenty years, he became editor of several departments and wrote for several publications including The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. During the '00s, he published several essays critical of the administration of then-President George W. Bush.[1][2][3][4]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] The Clinton Administration years
Sidney Blumenthal served as assistant and senior adviser to Bill Clinton from August 1997 until January 2001. His roles included advising the President on communications and public policy as well as researching information in the general media about the White House. Because of Blumenthal's previous career in journalism he was able to pass on positive stories about the Clinton White House (from state and local sources) that were otherwise missed in general mass circulation. He became a major figure in the grand jury investigation that ended in the impeachment of President Clinton.
During the investigations by White House independent counsel Kenneth Starr, Blumenthal was called to the Grand Jury to testify on matters related to what Clinton had told both Blumenthal and his senior staff in regard to Monica Lewinsky. It was on this occasion that Blumenthal was accused by the independent counsel of seeking to discredit the office of the counsel by passing stories to the media about Starr and his aides.
Nevertheless, the leadership of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives felt that enough evidence existed in regard to the Paula Jones case and Lewinsky for impeachment proceedings to begin in December 1998. After the House Judiciary Committee and the United States House of Representatives impeached Clinton on December 19, the matter then passed to the United States Senate. Blumenthal was one of only four witnesses called to testify before the Senate. (Although no live witnesses were called, the four were interviewed on videotape.) Blumenthal's testimony addressed the key "lie": that Clinton was allegedly pressuring Betty Currie and Blumenthal himself to state that it was Lewinsky who initially pursued Clinton, not vice versa. Lewinsky herself stated that she was the one who instigated the relationship. With the assistance of other evidence and arguments, the Senate acquitted Clinton of perjury and impeachment proceedings ended.
Blumenthal also served as key organiser and supporter of the Third Way conferences, aimed at creating a movement for progressive governance throughout the world. He was present at the two original conferences, both in the U.K. and America in which he became friends with the newly elected Labour leader Tony Blair.
[edit] Blumenthal v. Drudge
In 1997, Blumenthal instigated a $30 million libel lawsuit against Internet blogger Matt Drudge (as well as AOL, who had hired Mr. Drudge) stemming from a false claim Drudge had made of spousal abuse attributed to "top GOP sources." Drudge retracted the story later, saying he was given bad information. In Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F. Supp. 44 (D.D.C. 1998), the court refused to dismiss Blumenthal's case for lack of personal jurisdiction. Drudge later publicly apologized to the Blumenthals. Blumenthal dropped his lawsuit and eventually reached a settlement involving a small payment to Drudge over having missed a deposition. In his book, The Clinton Wars, Blumenthal claimed he was forced to settle because he could no longer financially afford the suit.[5] [6]
[edit] Post-Clinton Administration years
Following the end of the Clinton presidency, Blumenthal subsequently wrote a book titled The Clinton Wars published in 2003. The book includes a small biography of Blumenthal, but focuses on his years with the Clintons and in the White House. Other books by Blumenthal include The Permanent Campaign, The Rise of the Counter-Establishment, Pledging Allegiance: The Last Campaign of the Cold War, and How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime.
Blumenthal was recently the Washington bureau chief for Salon.com, for which he has written over 1800 pieces online. He is also a regular contributor to openDemocracy.net, as well as being a regular columnist for the UK newspaper, The Guardian. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife; they have two sons, one of whom is journalist Max Blumenthal. He is currently a senior fellow for the New York University Center on Law and Security.
Blumenthal joined the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign as a "senior advisor" in November 2007.[7]
While on a tom trip to advise Hillary Rodham Clinton on her Presidential campaign, Blumenthal was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Nashua, New Hampshire on January 7, 2008. Blumenthal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge. [8]
After her appointment as Secretary of State, Clinton wanted to hire Blumenthal. However, it was reported that White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel blocked his selection due to lingering anger among Obama aides over Blumenthal's role in promoting negative stories about Obama during the Democratic primary. [9]
[edit] Film work
Blumenthal was the executive producer of the documentary, "Taxi to the Dark Side," directed by Alex Gibney, that won the Oscar for best documentary of 2007 at the Academy Awards. He was also the associate producer of the 2002 film Max, directed by Menno Meyjes and starring John Cusack, about the early political rise of Adolf Hitler and the aesthetics of Nazism.
[edit] Family
Blumenthal's son, Max Blumenthal is also a journalist known for his video work.
[edit] References or notes
- ^ Blumenthal, Sidney (March 22, 2007). "The Godfather White House". The Guardian (London). http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2007/03/the_godfather_white_house.html. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ Blumenthal, Sidney (January 23, 2007). "The Republican revolt". The Guardian (London). http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2007/01/the_republican_revolt_against.html. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ What Bush is hiding | Salon
- ^ Blumenthal, Sidney (December 21, 2006). "Delusions of victory". The Guardian (London). http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2006/12/inside_bushs_iraq_escalation_p.html. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ "Should Libel Law Be Strengthened To Protect Plaintiffs?" FindLaw Legal News and Commentary Aug. 23, 2001 [1]
- ^ "Is AOL Responsible for its Hip Shooter's Bullets?" Columbia Journalism Review, Nov. 1997. [2]
- ^ Sidney Blumenthal Joins Hillary Campaign - Off The Bus on The Huffington Post
- ^ Wolfe, Andrew (April 15, 2008). "Clinton aide, Blumenthal, accepts deal in DWI case". Nashua Telegraph. http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/NEWS01/424263755. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ Baker, Peter (August 15, 2009). "Emanuel Wields Power Freely, and Faces the Risks". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/us/politics/16emanuel.html. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
