After the resignation of controversial Democrat National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who resigned after leaked emails, revealed she showed a clear bias against Bernie Sanders, political strategist Donna Brazille stepped in to fill the gap until the election.
Now, Politico has published an excerpt from Brazile’s upcoming book on what happened. Brazile explains how she promised to investigate whether or not Hillary Clinton’s people “rigged the nomination process.”
In the Politico report, Brazile does not talk much about the emails, but she blames Wasserman Schultz’s poor fundraising skills, which she says left the Democratic party $2 million in debt. Brazile also asserts there was “proof” of an agreement between the DNC and the Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Took, who agreed to help provide the DNC with money to keep the political party funded during the election.
If true, the Clinton campaign paid the operating expenses for the DNC each month. As a result, the committee had a vested financial interest in her nomination. Things get worse when Brazile explains how the Clinton campaign reportedly bypassed the Federal Election Campaign’s limit on individual campaign donations through the Victory Fund:
Individuals who had maxed out their $2,700 contribution limit to the campaign could write an additional check for $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund — that figure represented $10,000 to each of the thirty-two states’ parties who were part of the Victory Fund agreement — $320,000 — and $33,400 to the DNC. The money would be deposited in the states first, and transferred to the DNC shortly after that. Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn.
“Wait,” I said. “That victory fund was supposed to be for whoever was the nominee, and the state party races. You’re telling me that Hillary has been controlling it since before she got the nomination?”
This excerpt from the book refers to a meeting that Brazile said she held with Gary Gensler, the Chief Financial Officer of the Clinton campaign. Brazile says she discovered the agreement, which she could not reveal in her book, but the document allowed for Hillary to control the DNC strategy and money as well as all significant hiring decisions. Ultimately, Hillary Clinton managed the DNC way before she was officially nominated, which means Bernie Sanders never even had a chance at winning, no matter how many people supported his policies.
New York, New York, USA; June 7th, 2016; Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at her primary night victory rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. (Krista Kennell / Shutterstock.com)
As Brazile explains, there was nothing illegal about this agreement between the DNC and the Clinton campaign, but it was unethical. Brazile shares how she informed Bernie of what she knew, and he “took this stoically.” Bernie was not angry but wanted to know if Hillary could beat Trump in the general election, according to Brazile.
That said, it is worth pointing out Brazile supported Hillary Clinton after the primary when she leaked debate questions to the Clinton campaign.