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A United Methodist minister, Shillady met Clinton, a lifelong Methodist, in 2002, when Shillady pastored a church in New York City. Over the years, a spiritual kinship formed between the pastor and politician, and as Clinton began her second run for the White House, Shillady offered to send her daily devotionals based on the day's news.

Sometimes they were snippets of Scripture with encouraging mini-sermons. Other days' devotions included poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning or insights from the late Catholic writer Henri Nouwen that sought to put political troubles into proper perspective. Eventually, Shillady recruited a team of writers, including dozens of women who formed a "We Pray with Her," group.

Shillady collected the devotions in a book, called "Strong for a Moment Like This," which will publish on August 15. The minister talked to CNN this week about the email he sent Clinton the morning after the election, how faith is leading her "out of the woods" and why he expects to soon see the former politician in the pulpit.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I remember talking to you on Election Day, and you sounded pretty optimistic. What were those 24 hours like for you?

My writing team sent (Clinton) a message about every half-hour during the day, and everything seemed fine. They had asked me to open the Javits Center program (where Clinton's victory rally was to be held) with a prayer, and as the night went on, it was like a funeral wake. The Javits Center just got quieter and quieter. I went home to bed, and then I got up to write the hardest devotional I had to write. I didn't get much sleep that night.

Had you planned what you would write if Clinton lost the election?

About a week before the election, I wrote to my writing team and said, "Friends we need to think about devotionals that celebrate victory or help us deal with defeat." The devotional itself took me a little longer to write because I remember crying as I would write.

Your Nov. 9 devotional compares Hillary Clinton's loss to Good Friday. That's pretty intense.

I woke up that morning (on November 9) and it felt like maybe what the Apostles experienced on Good Friday. Their leader, master and savior was dead and gone and they didn't know what to do. And I thought of this phrase from the Rev. Tony Compolo: Good Friday was tough, but Sunday was coming.

In that metaphor, what does "Sunday" represent for Hillary Clinton's career, for her life?

"Sunday" is now for her. She's the most relaxed I've ever seen her, having fun with her grandchildren. I think she'll continue to speak out on issues that are important to her on women and gender and children's health. "Sunday" is not another election for her. She's moving on with her life.

So you don't think she'll run for president again?

I don't think she would run again. I don't have any knowledge other than my personal speculation, but she's fine where she is. She's told me that a number of times. She certainly was heartbroken, but her faith helped her move through that darkness.

Can you speak a bit more about that? What spiritual practices helped her deal with her defeat?

She knows the Bible remarkably well, and I think she knows what passages to turn to when she needs inspiration or solace. She reads her Scripture every day. That, for her, is a practice of spiritual discipline. She told me that my email was the first she opened every day and and it helped keep her grounded and centered.

Since the election, she's also spent time walking in the woods and having time to think and pray. Now she says she's coming out of the woods.

And where will that lead her? To the pulpit, maybe?

We were having a photo shoot for the book and chatting about preaching and she said, "Bill, I think I'd like to preach." In United Methodism, there's a tradition of having laypeople preach from the pulpit, and I think she's going to look at occasionally doing that and sharing the good news without it being a politically charged environment.

Some pundits say that Clinton lost, in part, because she didn't share more about her faith. Do you think that's true?

I think it's partially true, but she did speak a lot about her faith at various townhalls and rallies and when meeting people on the street. But it was not reported, and it wasn't what her critics wanted to look at. She talked about her faith every time she was asked about it, but within the Methodist culture, we aren't people who wear our religion our on sleeves.

Clinton seemed most comfortable talking about spirituality, and connecting it to her politics, in black churches. Why do you think that might be?

Maybe she didn't have to be as guarded there, because they're weren't as many critics. She is very comfortable in the pulpit. It's something that comes naturally to her, and she knows the Bible. That's why I think she'd make a great preacher.

When you talked to Clinton after the election, what did you say?

It was the Saturday after the election and we spent some time talking on the phone. She expressed how brokenhearted she was and how worried for the nation and what the future holds for people. But what was surprising to me is that she spent most of the call expressing gratitude to all the writers who were part of my team. She went on and on about how important the devotions had been to her, especially those we sent to her on November 9, 10 and 11. For her, it was a reminder that faith would get her through the difficult times.

How about yourself? Was your faith challenged by the election results?

It wasn't a challenge to my faith in terms of believing or not believing in God. I'm a bit of a process theologian, which means that, as life goes along, I believe in an all-loving God who may not always be in control, rather than an all-powerful God who is not loving. But I was definitely depressed for a few months after the election.

What pulled you out of that depression?

I guess editing the book of devotionals. As I began to think about how the book would come together, it pulled me back from that darkness. The devotionals are inspiring. There's a hopeful sense that a better future is coming, and I had to live into that.

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How faith led Hillary Clinton 'out of the woods' - CNN

With the media fawning over allegations of Russian influence and hacking of the presidential election, it seems there is no limit to the appetite for tales of intrigue. But this tale is not about foreign agents or a rogue government.

Instead, the culprits are much closer to home: the U.S. Postal Service.

While their actions weren't as nefarious as hacking voting machines, changing voter registration files, or throwing away campaign literature intended for voters, their alleged illegal activities are no less disturbing. And they are part of a larger pattern of unionized government employees working to grow the very programs that benefit their unions.

The Washington Post recently reported that the "Postal Service broke law in pushing time off for workers to campaign for Clinton." The law in question is the Hatch Act, which limits federal employee participation in certain types of political activities.

An internal investigation was launched after several USPS employees approached their union representatives to complain.

But the broader scandal isn't just that government employees were in the tank for the Democratic candidate or even that employees possibly violated the Hatch Act (or that the USPS lost $2.1 billion in one quarter). It's that government unions have for years been incentivizing their workers to spend time pushing their political agenda rather than serving their customers. Campaigning for a candidate who wants to grow government is just a more egregious form of that all-too-common practice.

Unions such as the the American Federation of Government Employees, the AFSCME, and the American Federation of Teachers contribute millions to liberal groups, which then turn around and advocate higher taxes and spending that directly benefit those unions.

The potential for corruption in such a system is obvious. Even President Franklin Roosevelt, the great champion of bigger government, agreed. "All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," he wrote in 1937.

It should shock no one when organizations that owe their existence to big government do whatever they can to perpetuate it.

In the Clinton campaign case, the Postal Service relieved union members of their postal duties for weeks at a time and encouraged employees to do union-funded work for various Democratic candidates while on leave, even in the face of local post office managers' complaints of understaffing. Door-to-door efforts and phone banks were used to promote Clinton's campaign; while the workers requested leave without pay, they were compensated through the union's political action committee.

These were not just a few rogue postal workers. The National Association of Letter Carriers allegedly sent a list of individuals who would be participating in the campaign to USPS headquarters. Later, a senior labor relations official forwarded the information to other locations across the country.

When faced with these accusations, Postmaster General Megan Brennan said "senior postal leadership did not in any way guide union leadership in selecting the candidates for whom NALC employees could campaign."

But it's no surprise that the NALC lists were interpreted as explicit directives from the top that participants were to be given leave without pay so they could work on campaigns. Investigators said the practice of giving union employees leave to participate in campaign activity was "long-standing" and has been going on for about two decades.

That's not what unions are for. Unionized government employees should have the right to decide if they want their dues to be spent on political activity. And those unions should work to represent their members, not elect political candidates or grow the size of government.

Eric Peterson (@IllinoisEric89) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is a policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity. Megan McKinley is an intern at Americans for Prosperity and a student at Oklahoma Christian University.

If you would like to write an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, please read our guidelines on submissions here.

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How the Postal Service tried to swing the election for Hillary Clinton - Washington Examiner

A Tuesday report published on conservative website, Newsmax, has many people questioning the validity of claims made against Hillary Clinton and reports that the email server investigation has been reopened.

The article, titled, Hillarys Plea Bargain, was penned by Ed Klein, former New York Times Magazine editor-in-chief, and claimed that not only had the Clinton email investigation been reopened, but that Clinton was offered a plea bargain if she will admit that she committed a prosecutable crime.

Klein claimed that the report came from one of Clintons attorneys.

From Newsmax:

The Justice Department has reopened the investigation of Hillary Clintons mishandling of classified material on her private email system while she was secretary of state, and is considering offering her a plea bargain if she will agree to plead guilty to charges of breaking the law, according to a Clinton attorney.

The discussion of a plea bargain took place late last month and was offered by a high-ranking Justice Department official to the Clinton lawyer.

During the exploratory talks with the prosecutor, the Clinton attorney was told that despite former FBI Director James Comeys decision last July not to prosecute Hillary, the Justice Department has reexamined the email case and believes there are ample grounds for prosecuting Hillary on a number of counts.

Under the Justice Departments plea offer, Hillary would be required to sign a document admitting that she committed a prosecutable crime. In return, the DOJ would agree not to bring charges against Hillary in connection with the email probe.

Also as part of the agreement, the Justice Department would not proceed with an investigation of Hillarys pay to play deals with foreign governments and businessmen who contributed to the Clinton Foundation or who paid Bill Clinton exorbitant speaking fees.

The Clinton attorney cautioned that normally a plea is offered by a prosecutor only upon arraignment, and Hillary has not yet been charged with any crime.

Klein on Tuesday also noted that he didnt think Clinton would take the plea bargain.

Speaking with America Talks Lives Miranda Khan, Klein said, Sometimes she has trouble admitting that shes Hillary Clinton, youre absolutely right. This is a woman who never, ever admits that she did anything wrong.

Weve all seen how she has blamed everybody but herself for her loss in 2016 at the presidential election. So youre right, I totally agree with you that the chances of her accepting such an offer are practically zero, he said.

Despite doubling down on his remarks about the Clinton investigation, there seemed to be a discrepancy in communication, because after the article was published, he told Khan that the Department of Justice was considering reopening it, not that they had reopened it.

They are seriously thinking of reopening this investigation and therefore if she doesnt take the plea agreement, which I agree with you, she almost certainly wont, I think they will then proceed with this investigation and this is going to drag on for a long time and in a way balance the investigation thats going on with President Donald Trump and his campaign advisers regarding so-called collusion with the Russians.

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Report: Hillary Clinton email investigation reopened Clinton purportedly offered plea deal - TheBlaze.com

PARK RIDGE, ILAt a ribbon-cutting ceremony held Tuesday on the steps of the recently completed 200,000-square-foot facility, Hillary Clinton opened a new presidential library and museum that commemorates the presidency she might have had if elected. Visitors to the Hillary Rodham Clinton Presidential Center can learn all about her tenure as commander in chief as it hypothetically might have unfolded over two terms in office, read a press release issued by the library, which archives thousands of pages of correspondence the former candidate wrote herself on replica Oval Office letterhead, displays pens she could have used to sign landmark legislation, and otherwise chronicles the pivotal moments of her nonexistent presidency. Preserved here for future generations are the texts of the seven State of the Union addresses she would have delivered, as well as filmed interviews in which Clinton reflects on imagined signature achievements such as the 2019 Paid Family and Medical Leave Act and a new U.S.-led climate treaty that future historians would have credited with ending the worlds dependence on fossil fuels. Sources said the museum also contains exhibits on the Supreme Court justices Clinton would have appointed to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy, and Stephen Breyer, presuming they had all died during her presidency.

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Hillary Clinton Opens New Presidential Library Charting Course Of Purely Theoretical Tenure As Commander In Chief - The Onion (satire)

Giving what was essentially President Donald Trump's first news conference in nearly six months on Thursday, the President reiterated threats to the North Korean government, while taking a softer tone on Russia.

The news conference took place from Trump's New Jersey resort, where he was meeting with military leaders about the threat North Korea poses.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin did the United States a favor by expelling 775 diplomats and other staffers working on behalf of the United States in Russia.

I want to thank him because we're trying to cut down our payroll, and as far as I'm concerned I'm very thankful that he let go a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll, Trump said. There's no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we've been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We're going to save a lot of money.

Putin's decision was put enacted after the US Congress overwhelmingly supported legislation that would increase sanctions against Russia, and prohibit Trump from being able to lift the sanctions. Trump came out in opposition of the legislation.

The legislation was enacted due to US intelligence services finding that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

The war of words between Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un continued on Thursday as Trump said that maybe his threats of'fire and fury' were not enough.

On Wednesday, the North Korean government said it is exploring a plot to fire missiles toward the coast of Guam. In response on Thursday, Trump said,"Maybe it wasn't tough enough," referring to his own comments from earlier in the week.

Trump would not rule out a preemptive strike against Un's government.

"We don't talk about that. We never do. I don't talk about it," Trump told reporters. "We'll see what happens."

Trump once again said accusations that his campaign colluded with Putin and the Russians were false, and that he simply won because he was the better candidate. Trump said that Russia would have prefered Hillary Clinton would have won. Trump claims that Clinton would have decreased the size and scope of the US military.

" I fought a smart battle," Trump said. "I didn't win because of Russia. Russia nothing to do with me winning. We had a great team and I guess I did a good job."

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Trump speaks on Russia, North Korea and Hillary Clinton - ABC15 Arizona