DONNA BRAZILE HAS A DIFFERENT TAKE ON "WHAT HAPPENED"

Brazile Called The Clinton Campaign, Among Other Things "Arrogant," "Lacking In Enthusiasm, Focus, And Heart", And Notes She Felt They Treated Her Like A "Slave"

Former DNC Chair, Donna Brazile, Described The Clinton Campaign As "Arrogan[t]," "Haunted By Ghosts," "Lacking In Enthusiasm, Focus, and Heart," And A "Huge Contributing Factor To Our Defeats In State And Local Races." "I want to talk about the arrogance and isolation of the Clinton campaign and the cult of Robby Mook, who felt fresh but turned up stale, in a campaign haunted by ghosts and lacking in enthusiasm, focus, and heart. More than that, Hillary's campaign and the legacy project of the outgoing Obamas drained the party of its vitality and its cash, a huge contributing factor to our defeats in state and local races." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House, 2017, p. xix)

Brazile Stated That "The Way" The Clinton Campaign "Stripped The [Democrat] Party Of Functionality And Purpose Was Shameful" And That They Gave The Party "No Respect." "Brooklyn had cleaned up the debt on our books and paid the bills, and the party should have been grateful for that, but they were not doing a very good job at running the party. The way they had stripped the party of functionality and purpose was shameful. I was beginning to understand why the campaign gave the party no respect." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House, 2017, p. 35)

Brazile Claimed That The Clinton Campaign Treated Her Like "Patsey The Slave" And That She Was The Campaign's "Whipping Girl." "'Patsey the slave!' I said. 'Y'all keep whipping me and whipping me and you never give me any money or any way to do my damn job. I am not going to be your whipping girl! From this time on, we're keeping the money we raise, is that clear? Patsey is keeping her money!'" (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p. 127 - p. 128)

Brazile Also Claimed That Her Thoughts Were "Irrelevant" To The Clinton Campaign. "To them my campaign knowledge was from a bygone era. The common wisdom was that my inability to accept that things were different now was what was making me so feisty (meaning 'unpleasant to work with'), but the truth was that no matter how much noise I made, my thoughts were irrelevant to them." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p.124 - p. 125)

Brazile Stated That She "Hated" Being DNC Vice Chair "In What Seemed Like Name Only" And Called Her Acceptance Of The Position "The Worst Decision" Of Her Political Career. "Back in March I had emailed a friend, complaining that I hated being a vice chair in what seemed like name only and that holding a paper title was the worst decision I had made in my political career. Now I was beginning to understand how much about what had been going on at the DNC the officers did not know anything about." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House, 2017, p. 34)

Brazile Criticized The Clinton Campaign For Their Near-Dictatorial Control Over The DNC And Their Finances, Calling It A Compromise Of "Integrity"

Donna Brazile Believed The Fundraising Agreement Between The DNC And The Clinton Campaign "Compromised The Party's Integrity." "The funding arrangement with HFA and the victory fund agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked 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. This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party's integrity." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House, 2017, p. 98)

Brazile Hired An Attorney To Represent Her Personally Because She Was Concerned That The Agreement Between The DNC And The Clinton Campaign Giving The Campaign Control Of DNC Finances Before She Was The Nominee Was "Shady Enough That It Might Produce A Lawsuit." "I hired my best friend, Betsy Marvin, to represent me personally in my capacity as the interim chair because I had become uncomfortable with some of the agreements that were consummated before I took on that role. Namely, the agreement that gave the Clinton campaign control over the party's finances before Clinton was the party's nominee. To me this seemed shady enough that it might produce a lawsuit and I wanted to be fully protected." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p. 224)

When Donna Brazile Started As DNC Chair, Clinton's Campaign Allegedly Informed Her Of Who Should Be Fired And Who Should Be Kept-And DNC Chief Of Staff, Brandon Davis, Who Brazile Described As "Brooklyn's Eyes And Ears In D.C.," Was To Stay, Per Clinton's Orders. "Brooklyn told me who they wanted me to fire, and some people had volunteered to leave on their own. One of the people Brooklyn wanted me to keep was Brandon Davis, the liaison between Hillary's campaign and the party. […] His title at the DNC was chief of staff, but really his role was acting as Brooklyn's eyes and ears in DC so that he could ensure that the party did not do anything that the campaign did not want it to do. No one was to breathe or to move unless Brooklyn told them it was okay. I think Debbie understood the rules of the game. She would not cause anyone any trouble. Now that I was replacing Debbie, it appeared Brandon's job had expanded to include making sure that I played that game, too." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House, 2017, p. 39)

As Brazile Attempted To Raise More Money For The DNC, She Found That Her Donor List Was Leaked To The Clinton Campaign, So They "Captured That Money" First. "The next day we had a pretty good list of places we could ask to contribute to the DNC, and I asked everyone to start making calls, and I made some calls on my own. The campaign to raise money for our Victory Fund went great the first day, with strong responses, and lots of pledges to contribute. By the next day someone had leaked that list to Brooklyn. When I started to make my calls that afternoon, I found that Brooklyn had gotten there first and captured that money. Now they wouldn't even let me raise my own money." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p.126 - p. 127)

Brazile Said The Clinton Campaign Put The DNC On A "Starvation Diet" Which Led The DNC To Become Dependent On The Clinton Campaign For Its Very Survival. "As Hillary's campaign gained momentum, she resolved the DNC debt and put the party on a starvation diet. It had become dependent on her campaign for survival, for which she expected to wield control of its operation." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House, 2017, p. 95)

Despite Having Immense Spending Power Over The DNC, Brazile Claimed The Clinton Campaign Ignored Pleas For Money And Made Other Questionable Decisions About Campaign Spending

Brazile Claimed That She Tried To Get $8 Million From The Clinton Campaign For The DNC, An Amount She Considered A "Pittance." "I was still trying to get that $8 million. In a campaign that was well on its way to raising a billion, that was a pittance." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p.125)

Brazile Recalled How She Expressed "Rage" When She Was Given Only $2 Million From The Campaign, A Move That Felt That Would Not Give Her "A Chance To Ask For More." "I sensed that he and Heather had agreed on $2 million, and he'd just waited a while to let me think there was a negotiation. Then Charles came in to ask if we knew why Brooklyn had just transferred $2 million into our accounts. They transferred the money so fast it was as if they were showing me the window was closed. Not a chance to ask for more. What gave Brandon the right to decide this? I was furious, and he seemed almost amused at my rage." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p.126)

The Thursday Before The Presidential Election, Brazil Said The Clinton Campaign Decided To Give Her $1.5 Million For Her Get Out The Vote Operation In Communities Of Color. "On the Thursday before the election I got a call from Charlie Baker as I was arriving at a political breakfast with corporate executives featuring GOP conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt and me. Brooklyn had decided to give me $1.5 million to run my Get Out The Vote (GOTV) operations in communities of color. I felt like jumping for joy!" (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p. 209)

However, Ninety Minutes Later, The Clinton Campaign Called Back And Said Brazile Would Only Receive $750,000 For Her Get Out The Vote Operation Because They Needed The Other Half Of The Money To Buy Time On Cable Shows. "When I got out of the event, I had a message from Brooklyn. My $1.5 million was now $750,000. It had been only ninety minutes from the initial call to the follow-up, and my money was cut in half. You know I went straight to Brandon. I wanted to burn his ass at the stake for undercutting me so many times. He told me Brooklyn had decided to hold some of the money back because they were going to buy time on cable shows over the weekend." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p. 209)

Brazil Expressed Anger At The Decision To Take Away Money Raised By The DNC, And Noted The Decision To Impound These Funds Was A Tactical Mistake Because The Voters Whom The Money Was Targeted At "Are Not Sitting At Home On Saturday Night." "I said, 'Brandon, you know colored people are not sitting at home on a Saturday night, not the ones that get out to vote. They're at a party or they're at the club. I'm only asking you to give me back the money raised by the DNC. How can you give it to me and then take it away?' I never did get that money back. He won that one. I was angry at everyone all over again. I had already promised these states the resources." (Donna Brazile, Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House , 2017, p. 209)

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