WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton summoned the Air Force to fly her from New York to Washington, DC, seven years ago because she didn’t want to use the “burdensome” commercial shuttle, according to newly released e-mails.
Exchanges from May 4, 2009, between Clinton and close aide Huma Abedin show the then- secretary of state trying to figure out how to avoid the air shuttle that runs hourly between New York and the nation’s capital.
“Do you think we could get a plane for Westchester flight back tonight?” Clinton wrote in an e-mail released this week by Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog that sued the State Department for the records.
“It’s going to rain all day and I still don’t feel great, so the idea of playing a guessing game w the shuttle is really burdensome to me. What do you think? Could be any time that works for the Air Force,” Clinton told Abedin.
An hour and 40 minutes later, the trusted aide replied: “Yes of course. Looking into it. Around what time do u think?”
“Six or 7 — does that work?” Clinton asked.
Abedin quickly got the job done. “Plan confirmed. Its the c21, the little one that we’ve taken before. Will be at white plains ready for a 6pm departure,” she wrote. At 5:15 pm, 45 minutes before the departure time, Clinton had a change of plan.
“Will the plane wait if I can’t get there before 7-8?” Clinton asked.
“Yes of course,” Abedin replied.
The e-mails highlight the perks of serving as the nation’s top diplomat. It’s also likely to draw criticism from those who don’t believe the Air Force should be ferrying around the country’s politicians — with the exception of Air Force I and Air Force II for the president and vice president.
On the campaign trial, Clinton is using a private airplane owned by a Wall Street banker and donor to get to fund-raisers this week on the West Coast.
A picture of Clinton walking off the private jet Tuesday at an Orange County airport revealed the tail number: N820HB.
FAA records show that number is registered to Howard & Brett LLC, which shares the same address as the Gramercy home owned by John D.
Howard, a former Bear Stearns executive and senior managing partner and former CEO of Irving Place Capital.
Howard donated $2,700 to Clinton in 2015, records show.
The Clinton campaign insisted it’s paying market rates for travel. “You should talk to the charter company we use about who owns the planes they lease,” spokesman Nick Merrill told The Post.