Donna Brazile, then-interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, speaks on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 26, 2016. | Paul Sancya/AP Photo Brazile: I found 'no evidence' Democratic primary was rigged

Donna Brazile, the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Sunday she found "no evidence" that the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged in favor of eventual nominee Hillary Clinton, seemingly walking back her recent stinging criticisms of the electoral process.

"I found no evidence, none whatsoever" that the primaries were rigged, Brazile said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week."


Last week, a scathing excerpt from Brazile's upcoming book, "Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House," published in POLITICO Magazine, detailed what Brazile described as an "unethical" agreement between the Clinton campaign and the committee that she claims allowed the Democratic candidate to exert "control of the party long before she became its nominee."

"I had promised Bernie [Sanders] when I took the helm of the Democratic National Committee after the convention that I would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process. ... I needed to have solid proof, and so did Bernie," Brazile wrote.

After learning of the financial agreement between Clinton and the DNC, Brazile wrote, "I had found my proof and it broke my heart."

The remarks were widely interpreted as a blunt accusation of favoritism by the former interim DNC chair, though she stopped short of saying the actual voting process was rigged. But Brazile appeared to temper her claims Sunday, disputing the characterization of the process as being rigged to favor Clinton over Sanders.

"The only thing I found, which I said, I've found the cancer but I'm not killing the patient,' was this memorandum that prevented the DNC from running its own operation," Brazile added.

Brazile also addressed reports that she had contemplated calling to replace Clinton on the Democratic presidential ticket with former Vice President Joe Biden over questions about Clinton's health.

"I had a lot of other combinations. This is something you play out in your mind," Brazile said, adding, "The bottom line is she resumed campaigning."

Brazile's comments, which have reopened up wounds from the bitterly divisive bout between supporters of Clinton and Sanders, have come under fire from some former Democratic officials. In an open letter published on Medium, former Clinton campaign staffers said they were "shocked" by some of Brazile's remarks, adding that they “do not recognize the campaign” that Brazile “portrays in the book.”

“It is particularly troubling and puzzling that she would seemingly buy into false Russian-fueled propaganda, spread by both the Russians and our opponent, about our candidate’s health,” the letter said.

Brazile on Sunday responded bluntly to some of the pushback to her book.

"You know what I tell them: Go to hell," Brazile said. "I'm going to tell my story."