It is good that you went to the actual documents and discovered that whoever  led you to believe that John Podesta said ""Some groups of people are almost always highly successful given only half a chance (Jews*, Hindus/Sikhs and Chinese people, for example), while others (Muslims, blacks** and Roma***, for instance) fare badly almost irrespective of circumstances"; was lying to you. I am just curious as to who it was.

I have looked at the exchange between Podesta and Newman again myself.  Newman, as a non-Catholic expressing  difficulty in understanding why the bishops and the bulk of the laity are so far apart on the issue of contraceptives and admittedly asking how to exploit this gap to benefit Clinton and Democrats. Podesta responding as both a Catholic and as a political operative. I don't think it's  as clearcut as either of us are trying to make it. Of course, the histories of the two groups in question speak for themselves.