Leaked emails show Clinton praising Putin as recently as 2014


Leaked emails containing purported excerpts of speeches Hillary Clinton gave after leaving the State Department see her discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin in strikingly positive terms as recently as 2014.
Putin is an "engaging" man and a "very interesting conversationalist," Clinton wrote. "I would love it if we could continue to build a more positive relationship with Russia," she remarked during one speech at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs in 2013, adding, "obviously we would very much like to have a positive relationship with Russia and we would like to see Putin be less defensive toward a relationship with the United States so that we could work together on some issues."
Those comments, made behind closed doors, are markedly different from her public takes on Putin both in 2014 and this year. In March of 2014, for instance, Clinton compared Putin to Hitler. In the 2016 race, she has argued that rival Donald Trump's admiration for Putin "raises national security issues" and released a video suggesting Trump is working with Putin to manipulate the U.S. election via Russian hacking and leaks. She reiterated the latter claim in the second presidential debate Sunday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Quiz of The Week: 5 - 11 April
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A botanical trap, a pair of puppies, and more
By Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: Can we really 'de-extinct' prehistoric animals?
Podcast Plus, will womb transplants transform fertility? And why are prices falling in the art market?
By The Week UK Published
-
Two judges bar war-powers deportations
Speed Read The Trump administration was blocked from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pauses some tariffs but ramps up China tax
Speed Read The president suspended most 'reciprocal' tariffs for 90 days and raised his tariffs for China to 125%
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine nabs first Chinese troops in Russia war
Speed Read Ukraine claims to have f two Chinese men fighting for Russia
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
IRS chief resigning after ICE deal on taxpayer data
Speed Read Several IRS officials are stepping down after the tax agency is forced to share protected taxpayer records to further Trump's deportation drive
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk and Navarro feud as Trump's trade war escalates
Speed Read The spat between DOGE chief Elon Musk and Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro suggests divisions within the president's MAGA coalition
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, China up trade war risks with tariff threats
Speed Read China said it would 'fight to the end' after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court gives Trump 2 deportation wins
Speed Read The court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to deport Venezuelan migrants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge orders US to recall deported migrant
Speed Read The Trump administration has been ordered to retrieve one of the migrants it sent to a prison in El Salvador due to an 'administrative error'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published