Clinton campaign denies staffing changes in works

[February 09, 2016]  WASHINGTON/MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign chair denied a Monday report that she is considering staff changes after the New Hampshire nominating contest on Tuesday.

"There is zero truth to what you may be reading. It's wrong. Hillary stands behind her team, period," Chairman John Podesta tweeted.

Podesta was responding to a Politico report that Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had planned to reassess staffing and strategy after the first four primaries but are becoming increasingly critical of their aides and demanded the evaluation sooner.

The former secretary of state would be more inclined to add new staff rather than fire current employees, according to the Politico story, which cited six unnamed sources.

Clinton, once the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination, has lost ground to challenger Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who is expected to win the New Hampshire primary. Last week she narrowly beat Sanders in the Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest for the Nov. 8 election.

Asked by MSNBC about the Politico story, Clinton said: “I have no idea what they’re talking about or who they are talking to."

"We’re going to take stock, but it’s going to be the campaign that I’ve got," Clinton said in the interview with MSNBC.

"I’m very confident in the people that I have. I’m very committed to them. They’re committed to doing the best we can," she said.

(Reporting by Megan Cassella and Amanda Becker; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Cynthia Osterman)

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