Dingell Upset She Was Left Out of Hillary Clinton Organizing Group: WikiLeaks

DEARBORN, MI — U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat, complained to an aide to then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that she had been shut out of the inaugural “Michigan Women for Hillary” group that included two other female members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, according to an email released by WikiLeaks.

The June 20 email, included in a large dump of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's private emails, was to Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s former chief of staff at the State Department. In it, Dingell said she is the “third senior woman in the state” but was not included in the organizing group along with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Lansing Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, a Southfield Democrat.

“Observation … I am pissed,” she wrote, adding later that her exclusion by Democratic consultant Jill Alper and former Michigan First Lady Janet Blanchard, organizers of a June 26, 2015, event in Southfield, was “a slap in the face.”

“Southfield's very own Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence and our United States Senator Debbie Stabenow will be on hand. We will also be joined by many friends and other elected officials to discuss the important challenge ahead,” read the email, which was forwarded to Dingell by Rachel Koresky, who works with Alper at the Dewey Square Group.

Koresky asked Dingell to “feel free to forward the Inaugural Meeting of Michigan Women for Hillary event invite below to any Hillary supporters.”

“Looks like the same old machinations returning and gives me 0 confidence,” Dingell wrote in her email to Mills. “I am not circulating anything that doesn’t treat me with respect.”

Dingell wrote she stays “out of everyone’s way” and does as she is asked and is an “effective speaker.”

Dingell also cited a lack of team building and said “too many feelings were hurt last time, too much back stabbing,” a reference to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. She wrote that she doesn’t “want to see [Clinton] lose, but it gives you 0 enthusiasm.”

Mills forwarded the email to Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and said “this would be a nice one to fix if we can.”

Mook responded: “And there’s so politics with the dingells, I’m told.” He said the campaign would be contacting Dingell “and getting her folded in.”

“Excellent,” Mills replied. “Thanks, Robby.”

Dingell, 62, replaced her husband, John Dingell, the longest-serving congressman in history until his retirement after the 2014 election, as the congressional representative for Michigan’s 12th District.

Debbie Dingell did not immediately respond to Patch’s requests for comments.

Official government photo