NEW YORK CITY — Even before Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to leverage his endorsement of Hillary Clinton to launch himself as the national voice of progressive politics, aides to the Democratic presidential nominee were worried he might be tough to manage and wanted to keep him at a distance.
The revelations come from a series of hacked emails released by WikiLeaks Monday from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The U.S. government has accused Russia of hacking into the emails of high level members of the Democratic Party.
In one email, high-ranking Clinton aide Huma Abedin explained to her colleagues that de Blasio wanted to have a closer relationship with Clinton, but that she saw that as an issue that needed to be managed.
"I stay in touch with him and his team a lot. He has recently asked to have increased direct access to her so he can tell his progressive partners what she thinks about issues important to them. He also thinks he can be most helpful to her if he has that kind of relationship," Abedin wrote in a Nov. 18, 2014 email to Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and others.
"He wants to be seen as the loudest progressive voice for her and in order to do that he needs access. In the next 6 months, someone else will have to inherit this relationship because it will not be tenable for HRC," Abedin continued.
De Blasio's relationship with Clinton goes back to 2000 when he managed her first successful run for the U.S. Senate. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, attended de Blasio's inauguration in January 2014.
That's why it came as a surprise to many when de Blasio declined to endorse Clinton the same day she announced her candidacy as other notable New York politicians such as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer had.
Instead, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," de Blasio said he needed to see a progressive vision from Clinton.
"I think like a lot of people in this country, I want to see a vision. And again, that would be true of candidates on all levels," de Blasio said, adding that he wanted to "see the substance."
Two weeks earlier, the mayor and his wife, Chirlane McCray, had formed the Progressive Agenda Committee to focus on income inequality and other progressive issues for the 2016 presidential election.
The group, which included well known progressive activists such as Van Jones, planned to hold a presidential forum in Iowa.
But the leaked Podesta emails show the Clinton campaign had no interest in the effort. When a Wall Street Journal reporter asked for comment about de Blasio's agenda he was unveiling in the Midwest, the consensus was to not respond.
"I'm likely not to respond here (unless others feel differently) given the > BDB dynamic," wrote Clinton's Deputy National Press Secretary Jesse Ferguson on April 17, 2015.
"Correct. Do not respond," replied Clinton Director of Communications Jennifer Palmieri.
On April 28, 2015, de Blasio wrote an email to Podesta, Mook and Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress outlining the agenda of the Progressive Agenda Committee.
"I believe you will agree with much of this content. Please let me know if you want to discuss," wrote de Blasio.
Clinton's team was not interested.
"Should we care about this?" Podesta asked Tanden.
"Politically, we are not getting any pressure to join this from our end. I leave it to you guys to judge what that means for you. But I’m not sweating it," Tanden replied.
Despite his choice not to endorse Clinton, de Blasio still sought talking points from her campaign. In August 2015 as rumors spread that Vice President Joe Biden was considering entering the race, de Blasio asked how to respond.
"I'm certain I'll be asked about Biden as early as tmrw. What could I say > that would be helpful?" de Blasio wrote to Podesta on Aug. 23, 2015.
"Great guy, serious, grieve with him on the loss of his son, he has to make up his own mind whether to run, no big clamor out there for additional candidates," Podesta responded.
"Got it. Thanks," de Blasio wrote.
The mayor's Progressive Agenda Committee ultimately folded after no candidates agreed to attend its Iowa forum.
"It didn't work because we reached out to the candidates and they weren't willing to participate," de Blasio explained.
The mayor then found himself on the outs with the Clinton camp.
When de Blasio finally endorsed Clinton, her campaign barely acknowledged it.
His endorsement received no special mention and was included in a press release among the endorsements of 87 other mayors.
De Blasio's quote praising Clinton was listed after remarks from the mayors of Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia.
While City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries traveled as Clinton surrogates, de Blasio performed a sort of penance, going to Iowa to knock on doors for Clinton on his own. And the mayor did not receive a prime-time speaking spot during the Democratic National Convention in July.
Mayoral spokesman Eric Phillips said the mayor had no comment on the emails.
De Blasio has since seemingly made his way back into Clinton's good graces.
De Blasio has regularly attacked Republican nominee Donald Trump and his surrogates such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
The mayor recently campaigned in Wisconsin for Clinton while his wife campaigned in Ohio. The couple was in Michigan this past weekend to stump for Clinton in Detroit.
