WASHINGTON – Hacked emails reveal a close Hillary Clinton ally fuming that her private email server had been kept secret because Team Clinton thought they could “get away with it.”

On March 2, 2015 — the day the New York Times revealed Clinton used a private email sever exclusively while Secretary of State — progressive leader Neera Tanden and Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta venting about the penchant for secrecy among Clinton’s inner circle.

“Why didn’t they get this stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy,” Tanden asked.

“Unbelievable,” Podesta replied.

“I guess I know the answer,” Tanden replied. “They wanted to get away with it.”

Podesta cast blame for the debacle on three prominent Clinton associates: Clinton lawyer David Kendall, State Department chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and senior adviser Philippe Reines.

“Speaking of transparency, our friends Kendall, Cheryl and Phillipe [sic] sure weren’t forthcoming on the facts here,” Podesta said.

Tanden, president of the progressive Center for American Progress president, blamed Mills for perpetuating Clinton’s lack of transparency, which has dogged the Democratic nominee throughout her White House bid.

“This is a cheryl special,” Tanden wrote. “Know you love her, but this stuff is like her Achilles heal [sic]. Or kryptonite. she just can’t say no to this s–t.”

The exchange was part of the latest release of Podesta’s hacked emails. Wikileaks has now published 18 installments totaling more than 31,500 files. US intelligence agencies have blamed Russia for the massive intrusion.

Other emails out Tuesday reveal Clinton’s team fretted they’d have to “clean up” President Obama’s comments that he wasn’t aware of her private email arrangement.

In March 7, 2015 email chain, Clinton aides seemed surprised that Obama said publicly he only learned about Clinton’s private email practices recently through “news reports.”

“We need to clean this up – he has emails from her – they do not say state.gov,” Mills wrote Podesta.

Obama had told CBS he had no knowledge that Clinton used a private email address as Secretary of State until the New York Times reported it.