CNN has forced Democratic National Committee Interim Chairperson, Donna Brazile to resign as a CNN contributor. In a statement, CNN said that it had accepted Donna Brazile’s resignation on October 14th, 2016, after WikiLeaks released emails showing Brazile passing on questions to the Clinton campaign that would be posed to the candidates during a debate in March of this year.
An email was sent on March 5, 2016, the day before the CNN debate between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, to Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta and Clinton Campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri, with “One of the questions directed tomorrow is from a woman with a rash” in the subject line. Brazile said, “Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint.”
It wasn’t the first time a WikiLeaks email release had revealed Brazile providing information to the Clinton campaign in advance of debates. Another email with debate information from Brazile to campaign staff had been previously discovered sent before a Town Hall event. Brazile vehemently denied this as true, saying in a statement, “As a longtime political activist with deep ties to our party, I supported all of our candidates for president. I often shared my thoughts with each and every campaign, and any suggestions that indicate otherwise are simply untrue. As it pertains to the CNN Debates, I never had access to questions and would never have shared them with the candidates if I did.”
Included in the statement announcing Brazile’s resignation, CNN said, “CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate. We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor.”
Donna Brazile took over as the Interim DNC Chairperson after the former chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign following emails released by Wikileaks that showed the DNC leadership proactively working with the Clinton campaign against Bernie Sanders.
Wasserman-Schultz’s ousting leaves an opening for a new DNC Chairperson to be selected by the executive members of the DNC. Many names have come up for this role, including Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison and former Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybek.
According to Politico, Ellison “has been actively working back channels to make his interest in the position known.”
Andrea Mayer-Bruestle
Andrea Mayer-Bruestle is a former writer for Alpha News.
