The Obama administration collected
lists of Muslim candidates for jobs in the Obama administration, according to
previously unseen emails sent to the chair of Hillary Clinton’s presidential
campaign John Podesta and released by Wikileaks. Podesta was also a former
chief of staff for President Bill Clinton.
Dating from 2008, the email refers to a
list of Muslim leaders vetted for top jobs within the administration (it does
not provide the list). The author, Preeta Bansal, adds three points by way of
explanation, the first of which is as follows:
“In the candidates for top jobs, I excluded those with some Arab
American background but who are not Muslim (e.g., George Mitchell). Many
Lebanese Americans, for example, are Christian. In the last list (of outside
boards/commissions), most who are listed appear to be Muslim American, except
that a handful (where noted) may be Arab American but of uncertain religion
(esp. Christian).”
This paragraph has drawn the ire of
commentators who see this as evidence that Obama’s White House was deliberately
excluding Christians from senior positions. While that does seem to have been
the case where this list is concerned, we do not know who, if anyone, was hired
on the basis of this list.
