Former secretary of State Colin Powell didn't think highly of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his family, leaked private emails show.

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"They are idiots and spent force peddling a book that ain't going nowhere," Powell wrote in an email to Kenneth Duberstein, the former White House chief of staff to President Reagan. The email was first reported by BuzzFeed.

Powell was referencing a book Cheney wrote with his daughter Liz Cheney, titled "Exception: Why the World Needs a Powerful America."

The emails are housed on password-protected DCLeaks.com, a website that security experts told Bloomberg News appears to have some connection to Russian intelligence operatives.