Democrat Harpootlian ‘mildly amused’ at Wikileaks mention

Dick Harpootlian is aware his name is within the thousands of hacked Hillary Clinton campaign emails published online by Wikileaks.

But the sharp-tongued former S.C. Democratic Party chair said he is not bothered by his description in a 2014 email exchange between political strategists – one from President Barack Obama’s camp and the other from Clinton’s.

“Harpootlian is going to be a huge pain all the way,” Robert Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, apparently wrote in one email, months before the former first lady officially announced she would run for president in 2016.

“He’s not controllable even when on your side,” replied David Plouffe, who managed Obama’s successful 2008 campaign. “But I would not ostracize him.”

“I’m not upset about that at all,” Harpootlian told The Buzz Thursday. “I think it’s an accurate exchange.”

The email exchange followed an excerpt from a 2014 story in which Harpootlian was critical of Clinton, saying she was “generating an imperial image” that could hurt her on the campaign trail.

Harpootlian said the emails were “mildly amusing,” noting he has been called worse.

“Game Change,” a book about the 2008 presidential race, described the Columbia attorney as “volatile, unpredictable, messy – a human IED.”

“I’m not subtle,” Harpootlian said. “So I understand that Robby Mook would be concerned, and I understand that Plouffe was very accurate in describing me.”

Harpootlian added he will vote for Clinton but remains a huge fan of Joe Biden. The vice president would be 20 points ahead of Donald Trump right now if he had run for president, Harpootlian said.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Democrat Harpootlian ‘mildly amused’ at Wikileaks mention."