Former interim chairperson for the Democratic National Committee, Donna Brazile will release her book Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump In the White House, on November 7 of this year. According to Publishers Weekly, the book, “outlines Brazile’s response to a “wholly unprecedented attempt by a foreign power to influence a presidential election.” The book will also look at Hillary Clinton’s response to the Russian intrusion and to the tactics of her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.” The book will also include Brazile’s frontline insight into what she saw behind the closed doors of the Democratic National Committee, but not without taking aim at a few key players in the party.
On Thursday Politco released excerpts from the book that briefly explained what Brazile saw throughout her time as interim chairperson of the Democratic National Committee for the 2016 Presidential election.
When Brazile took over the committee, her predecessor, Florida Representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz had been struggling. “Debbie was not a good manager. She hadn’t been very interested in controlling the party- she let Clinton’s headquarters in Brooklyn do as it desired so she didn’t have to inform the party officers how bad the situation was.” Under Representative Wasserman Schultz’s leadership the, the DNC was reportedly left in “$24 million of debt – $15 million in bank debt and more than $8 million owed to vendors after the 2012 campaign.” Thus, leaving Brazile with quite the mess to clean up, or at least find out what caused the debt to pile up.
.@donnabrazile opening the whole tea kettle on the @DNC… https://t.co/W4AB0yNC2E
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) November 2, 2017
When a major political party chooses their nominee, it is custom that the nominee and their team gain more control over the party and the committee in which they are running in connection with. However, in the case of the 2016 Presidential election, there were no incumbent candidates, and front runners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were in an open contest for the nomination.
However, with the growing debt Brazile would uncover that the Clinton campaign and Wasserman-Schultz had come to an agreement that would not be illegal, but certainly unethical: “I had tried to search out any other evidence of internal corruption that would show that the DNC was rigging the system to throw the primary to Hillary, but I could not find any in party affairs or among the staff. I had gone department by department, investigating individual conduct for evidence of skewed decisions, and I was happy to see that I had found none. Then I found this agreement.”
The agreement outlined that Clinton would fundraise for the DNC and in response her team would, “control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.” It’s important to note that this agreement was signed before the primaries and before a nominee for the democratic party was announced. Ultimately, giving Clinton control over the party before she became the official nominee.
Brazile then details the agonizing phone exchange she had to make with Senator Sanders to inform him of the official agreements she uncovered and her anger towards the entire situation that unfolded behind her back, on her watch. “Hello, senator. I’ve completed my review of the DNC and I did find the cancer,” I said. “But I will not kill the patient.”
Sanders and Brazile agreed that the decision was finalized and that the only way to move forward was to encourage voters to support Clinton, as the alternative candidate was far worse for the American people.
Her Campus has reached out for comment from Sanders, Clinton, Obama and Wasserman-Schultzs’ camps.