Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman discussed with a Democratic strategist how to 'stick the knife in' Bernie Sanders while the two contenders were duking it out in the primary season.

John Podesta, whose personal emails were hacked and released publicly by the anti-privacy group WikiLeaks, exchanged messages with former Bill Clinton adviser Joel Johnson in late February, in an email thread titled: 'Friendly advice. No mercy.'

'Bernie needs to be ground to a pulp,' Johnson told him. 'We can't start believing our own primary bulls**t. This is no time to run the general. Crush him as hard as you can.'

Podesta asked in reply: 'I agree with that in principle. Where would you stick the knife in?'

John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, chatted over email with a Democratic strategist about where to 'stick the knife in' Bernie Sanders – whom the contractor said should be 'ground to a pulp'

While her team was plotting Sanders' destruction, Clinton was debating him with a smile and pretending to value his input into the Democratic Party's primary election process

Johnson's prescription read like a road map for a scorched-earth campaign designed to turn Sanders into a man without a country.

'Obama betrayer (Wh will affirm),' he wrote, suggesting asking the White House to go on offense and paint Sanders as disloyal.

'Hapless legislator (Senators/members will affirm).

'False promiser (policy elites will affirm).

'Can't win (black people will affirm).'

This email chain, released by the anti-privacy group WikiLeaks, shows Podesta and Johnson chatting about how to hamstring Bernie Sanders

Two days later, Johnson chatted up Clinton's communications chief about whether the campaign was sufficiently prepared to 'swift boat' Donald Trump

Johnsys on is a managing director of the Glover Park Group, a Washington, D.C. public relations firm. A former Glover Park employee told DailyMail.com on Thursday that Johnson 'was trying to drum up business' at the time.

If he succeeded, his conduit back to Clintonworld would likely have ben Christia Reynolds, the presidential campaign's deputy communications director, who is a Glover Park alumna.

Four days after chatting with Podesta about how to torch Sanders' challenge to Hillary Clinton, Johnson took another not-so-subtle stab at selling his services – but this time to orchestrate a 'swift boat' plan to destroy Donald Trump.

'I know you can't look past Bernie and March primaries -- but who is in charge of the Trump swift boat project?' he asked Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri in an email.

'Needs to be ready, funded and unleashed when we decide -- but not a half assed scramble.'

'Gee. Thanks, Joel. We thought we could half-ass it. Let's discuss,' Palmieri responded a minute later, with what reads as sarcasm.

Johnson appears to have included Podesta in his last reply as a 'blind carbon-copy,' without letting Palmieri know.

'Sorry. I've been behind too many curtains in my day...,' he wrote.

'Swift-boating' is political campaign slang for an all-out smear campign. It takes its name from a 2004 effort launched by the group 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.'