Harwood saw further criticism after the personal email account of John Podesta, who was then chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, was hacked and had its contents published by the website WikiLeaks in October and November 2016. Among the emails were several from Harwood that some critics said indicated an unprofessional level of closeness or collusion between the two, including an email from May 2015 in which Harwood warned Podesta that then-candidate Ben Carson could represent "real trouble" to the Clinton campaign. The emails also revealed that Harwood had asked Podesta which questions he should ask Republican candidate Jeb Bush during a debate.