Donna Brazile, a longtime political operative and the former interim Democratic National Committee chairwoman, says Hillary Clinton struck a deal with the DNC to run the organization’s finances and have a role in the organization’s operations.
In an excerpt from a book she has written about the 2016 presidential election, Brazile says she discovered proof Clinton had rigged the nomination process, "as a cache of emails stolen by Russian hackers and posted online had suggested,"
blocking Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders from getting the nomination.
Brazile describes an agreement between the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising organization between the campaign and the DNC, Hillary for America, Clinton’s campaign, and the DNC. In exchange for the paying down of the DNC’s debt, Clinton’s campaign was given control of the “party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised,” Brazile wrote.
“Obama left the party $24 million in debt—$15 million in bank debt and more than $8 million owed to vendors after the 2012 campaign and had been paying that off very slowly. Obama’s campaign was not scheduled to pay it off until 2016. Hillary for America ... and the Hillary Victory Fund ... had taken care of 80 percent of the remaining debt in 2016, about $10 million, and had placed the party on an allowance.”
While it is not unusual for the national political parties to work with the party nominee when it comes to strategy and decisions, Clinton had not yet been selected as the party’s nominee.
Brazile also slammed former President Barack Obama for leaving the party $24 million in debt, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (D-Florida), who Brazile said was “not a good manager.” She described how she promised Sanders, who ran against Clinton for the Democratic nomination, that she would investigate “whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process.”
"By September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart," Brazile wrote.
Politico published an excerpt from "Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House."
"Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House" will be published on Nov. 7 by Hachette Books.
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