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.
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.
-
What are 'dark fleets' and why does China use them?
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Cracks appear in MAGA's pro-Israel front
IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the world watches a humanitarian crisis unfold across Gaza, some of Israel's most staunchly conservative defenders have begun speaking out against its actions in the occupied territories
-
5 cultural trails to traverse by car
The Week Recommends Leave the hiking shoes at home
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness Test
Speed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele
Speed Read New constitutional changes will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect
-
Harris rules out run for California governor
Speed Read The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee ended months of speculation about her plans for the contest
-
Trump sets new tariff rates as deadline nears
Speed Read New tariff rates for South Korea, Brazil and India announced
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
Senate confirms Trump loyalist Bove to top court
Speed Read The president's former criminal defense lawyer was narrowly approved to earn a lifetime seat
-
Ghislaine Maxwell offers testimony for immunity
Speed Read The convicted sex trafficker offered to testify to Congress about her relationship with late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein