PHILADELPHIA — Donna Brazile, who will soon take the helm of the Democratic National Committee, issued an apology to Sen. Bernie Sanders on behalf of the DNC Monday despite having personally taken part in bashing Sanders behind the scenes, according to leaked emails.
For example, Brazile forwarded a request from a Washington Post reporter on May 13 to DNC officials and assured them, “I have no intentions of touching this.”
“Why? Because I will cuss out the Sanders camp!” Brazile wrote.
The Post reporter had asked Brazile about Sanders’ complaint that he was not adequately represented on the platform and rules committees put together by the DNC to govern convention proceedings.
The DNC has touted Brazile’s interim position as a new leaf for the embattled party.
But Brazile was a close ally of ousted DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose resignation will become effective at the end of the convention here on Thursday.
When a reporter for Newsweek was writing an article about Wasserman Schultz, a DNC official asked Brazile to step in and provide flattering quotes about her.
“We would like to help this reporter get as many positive comments on the record about the congresswoman as possible to counter any negatives being drummed up by her opponents and critics,” the DNC staffer wrote to Brazile.
“In speaking with the congresswoman, she praised you and said she values your opinion,” the staffer added.
Commenting to fellow DNC staffers on an article that was sent to her about Sanders supporters’ push to unbind superdelegates at the convention, Brazile said the effort was “another lunacy.”
“It’s the lies” that led to the pro-Sanders push, Brazile suggested.
Wasserman Schultz’s announcement that she planned to step down this week roiled the first day of the Democratic convention just as warring factions of the party were poised to come together.
