Brazile asserts DNC showed favoritism toward Clinton
Donna Brazile has torn open an old, persistent wound within the Democratic Party.
In her new book, the former i nterim Democratic National Committee chairwoman makes a bold — if not previously suspected — allegation: Before she took over the organization in the summer of 2016, leaders within the party showed considerable favoritism toward Hillary Clinton during the primary election.
From the start, Brazile writes, the scale was tipped in favor of former secretary of State Clinton — and against Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. It centers on a fundraising agreement that Clinton’s campaign signed with the DNC that essentially kept the committee afloat and allowed her aides to control the party.
“The funding arrangement with HFA (Hillary for America presidential campaign committee) and the victory fund agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical,” Brazile writes in an excerpt of the book published by Politico. “If the fight had been fair, one campaign would not have control of the party before the voters had decided which one they wanted to lead.”
Brazile writes that shortly after becoming chair, she called Sanders to explain how Clinton had exerted a “control of the party long before she became its nominee.”
“Had I known this, I never would have accepted the interim chair position, but here we were with only weeks before the election,” writes Brazile.
Sanders’ campaign also signed an agreement, but decided against raising money for the DNC and state parties.
Throughout the primary, Sanders, whose populist message resonated with the party’s liberal base, battled with the DNC, saying the organization was showing favoritism toward Clinton by, among other things, offering a limited number of debates.
Jeff Weaver, who served as Sanders’ campaign manger, said Thursday that Brazile’s book “confirms what many understood to be the case.”
“We saw throughout the campaign a pattern from the DNC that was favorable to Clinton. They wanted her to be the nominee,” he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she agreed with Brazile’s allegations. “The process was rigged, and now it is up to Democrats to build a new pro- cess, a process that really works and works for everyone,” Warren told PBS, adding that people need to have confidence in the integrity of the system.
Brazile took over as head of the DNC in July 2016 after the then-DNC chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned following the release of leaked emails from Wiki Leaks that showed DNC staffers discussing strategies that could be used against Sanders.
While Brazile jabs Clinton in her new book, she, too, has faced considerable criticism since last year for her actions during the primary.
Leaked emails also published by Wiki Leaks showed that Brazile, who before becoming i nterim chairwoman was a CNN analyst, shared questions with Clinton ahead of a town hall event that the network was hosting in March 2016.
Brazile was fired from CNN and apologized for sharing the questions.