Sidney Blumenthal paid by Clinton Foundation while advising on Libya

Sidney Blumenthal, the controversial former Clinton aide who sent private intelligence reports on Libya to then secretary of state Hillary Clinton, was also on the payroll of the Clinton Foundation.

Politico reported on Thursday that Blumenthal was being paid $10,000 a month by the Clinton Foundation from 2009 to 2013, after top Obama aides blocked him from a job at the State Department. At the time, Blumenthal was also on the payroll of two pro-Clinton groups, American Bridge and Media Matters. Both organisations are run by Clinton ally David Brock.

Questions have been raised about how Blumenthal received the intelligence he used for his reports to Clinton. The former writer for the New Republic and the New Yorker is not a foreign policy expert but had connections to investors pursuing business opportunities in Libya in the aftermath of the collapse of the Gaddafi regime.

Clinton defended the emails about Libya she received from Blumenthal last week. In a rare exchange with reporters, the former secretary of state described Blumenthal as “a friend of mine for a long time”.

She went on to describe their interactions about Libya by saying: “He sent me unsolicited emails which I passed on in some instances and I say that that’s just part of the give and take.”

Blumenthal’s lawyer, James Cole, did not respond to a request for comment.