Hillary Clinton spokesman tells Buzzfeed reporter to ‘F--- Off’ 

A top aide to Hillary Clinton got into a heated email spat with a BuzzFeed reporter who was aggressively questioning him on U.S. actions in Libya — which ended with the Clinton spokesman telling the reporter to "f--- off."

BuzzFeed published the lengthy email exchange between longtime Clinton aide Philippe Reines and reporter Michael Hastings on Monday.

The testy back-and-forth came after Reines accused CNN this weekend of reporting on the personal journal of slain U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens despite objections from his family.

CNN, which found Stevens' journal inside the consulate after his death, said it "did not initially report on the existence of a journal out of respect for the family, but we felt there were issues raised in the journal which required full reporting, which we did."

Reines called that decision "indefensible" and CNN's justification "disgusting."

The related row between Reines and Hastings began when the Buzzfeed reporter emailed the Clinton aide with a series of pointed questions about other "valuable intelligence" that may have been left inside the consulate for CNN and others to find.

Reines replied with an exasperated-sounding ‘no,’ along with further explanations, while accusing Hastings of being "needlessly antagonistic."

From there the exchange devolved into name-calling, with Hastings saying the official’s answers were "bullsh--" and Reines calling the reporter an "unmitigated assh---."

"Now that we've gotten that out of our systems, have a good day," Reines said. "And by good day, I mean F--- Off."

Confrontations between reporters and officials’ spokespeople aren't rare, but they’re not usually aired quite so publicly.

A spokesman for Mitt Romney, Rick Gorka, also made headlines for losing his temper in July.

During a campaign stop in Poland, Gorka’s caught-on-camera demand that reporters "kiss my a--" and "shove it" overshadowed Romney's visit to Pilsudski Square to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With News Wire Services

klee@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/hillary-clinton-spokesman-tells-buzzfeed-reporter-f-article-1.1167401