The New York Times reported that Hillary Clinton received more than thirty detailed “intelligence briefings” from long-time Clinton lieutenant Sidney Blumenthal about Libya and Syria while she was Secretary of State. The memos did not disclose Blumenthal’s business ties to parties in Libya.

While a casual reader might have laughed at them, Hillary circulated the memos to her top staff and even asked for comments.

And, at the same time that he was churning out the “intelligence reports” to Hillary, Blumenthal was being paid by the Clinton Foundation. For what?

A Clinton Foundation spokesman told the Times that “Blumenthal would help with research, “message guidance” and the planning of commemorative events, according to foundation officials.”

Oh, right, Sidney was an event planner? Are they kidding? What did he do — look for the caterers and decide on the font size for the invitations? And, by the way, the only “commemorative event” on the Foundation schedule was the “10th Anniversary of the Clinton Library” which was celebrated on November 14, 2014. So it’s doubtful that he was working on the hors d’oeuvres three years earlier. No, he was doing something else.

As for research, the Clinton Foundation employs thousands of people who are familiar with their programs and really didn’t need Sidney’s talents. His forte is negative research, character assassination, hit jobs to destroy any Clinton opponents.

As for “message guidance,” whose message are we talking about here? Hillary’s or the Foundation’s?

So what was he doing for the Foundation? Did Hillary use the “charitable” Clinton Foundation to pay for advice to her? Political advice? And did she pay Sidney for the “intelligence reports” through the Foundation?

And maybe for advice on how to finesse the Benghazi mess after she left the State Department?

What’s going on here?

Blumenthal has always been one of Hillary’s closest confidants feeding her innate paranoia. It was Sidney who originated Hillary’s favorite phrase “the vast right wing conspiracy.” During the impeachment process he was also the source of a false media campaign (at Hillary’s behest) accusing Monica Lewinsky of being a “stalker” of an innocent President who was only trying to “minister” to her. That earned him big points with Hillary.

Sidney is no foreign policy expert. He has absolutely no experience in that realm. And, the White House had refused to allow Hillary to hire him.

So why did Hillary get the Foundation to hire Blumenthal? Was she using the Foundation as her secret political arm – putting Blumenthal on the payroll to advise her on her presidential campaign and on how to spin Benghazi? Was that part of a pattern?

Remember that Huma Abedin was also paid by the Foundation while she worked at the State Department and at Teneo. Was anyone else?

With Hillary in hiding and the Foundation in panic mode, we’re not likely to see answers anytime soon.