Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is calling for an overhaul of the Democratic National Committee and campaign finance laws after an expose by a former committee official detailed the DNC’s close ties to the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Gabbard had been vice chairwoman of the committee for three years before
resigning Opens in a new tab early last year so she could formally endorse Bernie Sanders for president in the 2016 primary.
“We heard from Donna Brazile that what many suspected for a long time is actually true: The DNC secretly chose their nominee over a year before the primary elections even occurred, turning over DNC control to the
Clinton campaign,” Gabbard said in a video message Opens in a new tab. “The deep financial debt, closed-door decision-making, complete lack of transparency and unethical practices are now front and center.”
Brazile, who served as interim chairwoman of the DNC, alleges in a new book that corruption within the committee allowed Clinton to control the party’s finances and strategy nearly a year before she was officially chosen as its nominee. Brazile served as interim chairwoman after former DNC Chairwoman U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida was forced to resign after thousands of leaked emails between key DNC staffers suggested the party’s leadership had worked to undercut Sanders’ campaign.
Politico Magazine this week published excerpts Opens in a new tab from Brazile’s book, titled “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.”
In her book, Brazile says she confirmed that Clinton’s campaign paid off roughly $10 million in DNC debt in 2016 and subsequently placed the party on an allowance to sustain operations. She later uncovered a
fundraising agreement — among the DNC; the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising entity with the DNC; and Hillary for America,
Clinton’s campaign — that explained what Clinton would receive in exchange.
“The agreement … specified that in exchange for
raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised,” Brazile said in the book. “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.”
Brazile acknowledges
the arrangement was not
illegal but said it appeared unethical.
“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,” she wrote. “This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party’s integrity.”
Responding to the book excerpts, Gabbard accused the DNC of rigging the presidential primary and damaging the party, and called for sweeping changes.
“The DNC must get rid of the undemocratic system of superdelegates, who have the power to swing an election, making up one-third of the votes any candidate needs to secure the nomination,” she said.
Gabbard also faulted weak campaign finance laws for allowing Clinton’s campaign to accept additional individual contributions through the DNC after individual contribution limits to the campaign were maxed out — another detail from Brazile’s book.
“No more games. No more retaliation. No more picking winners and losers,” she said. “We must act now to take back our party — a party that belongs to the people.”
