Bernie Sanders, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Apple CEO Tim Cook — those were just a few of the people who Hillary Clinton's campaign floated as her running mate, according to a hacked email posted by Wikileaks Tuesday.
Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta sent Clinton a “first cut of people to consider for VP” in March. He said this list had been generated with other top aides.
The list of 39 names, includes the expected — Sen. Tim Kaine, her eventual pick — along with more surprising names like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Clinton ally and Virginia Gov. Terry MacAullife, and business figures like Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and GM head Mary Barra.
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It's unlikely Clinton seriously considered all of these names, as campaigns often begin with a lengthy list of both conventional and unconventional options that then gets whittled down.
The email, like thousands of others released by Wikileaks, is thought to have been hacked by Russian government agents before being given to Wikileaks. NBC News has not authenticated any of the alleged emails. The Clinton campaign has not offered authentication either.
Podesta organized the list into what he called "food groups” apparently based around identities — Latinos, women, African-Americans, military brass, business leaders, and finally Sanders in his own category.
Here’s the full list as organized by Podesta:
- Xavier Becerra
- Julian Castro
- Eric Garcetti
- Tom Perez
- Ken Salazar
- Tammy Baldwin
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Amy Klobuchar
- Claire McKaskill
- Jeanne Shaheen
- Debbie Stabenow
- Elizabeth Warren
- Michael Bennet
- Sherrod Brown
- Martin Heinreich
- Tim Kaine
- Terry McAuliffe
- Chris Murphy
- Tom Vilsack
- Steve Benjamin
- Corey Booker
- Andrew Gillum
- Eric Holder
- Deval Patrick
- Kasim Reed
- Anthony Foxx
- John Allen
- Bill McCraven
- Mike Mullen
- Mary Barra
- Michael Bloomberg
- Ursula Burns
- Tim Cook
- Bill Gates
- Melinda Gates
- Muhtar Kent
- Judith Rodin
- Howard Schultz
- Bernie Sanders
