"My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen," she wrote. "But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret."</s>In a new essay penned for Time Magazine, former CNN political analyst Donna Brazile admits that she gave debate questions to the Clinton campaign in advance. The admission comes after months of accusations that Donna Brazile repeatedly denied, despite WikiLeaks emails showing correspondence between Brazile and the Clinton campaign.

In the Time essay published yesterday, Brazile finally admits to sending debate questions to the Clinton campaign.

She goes on to explain her feelings regarding the leaked questions.

Brazile also maintained that the DNC had behaved fairly and it was media spin that made it look like she was playing favorites. She insisted that Russians had hacked and released the emails in a way that made it appear that she was playing favorites, but she was not. However, she did not share any debate questions with the Bernie Sanders campaign.

The controversy is significant due to accusations that the Democratic Party colluded with Hillary Clinton, who was considered more likely to win a presidential run, at the expense of candidate Bernie Sanders, who would not be able to run a national campaign strong enough to defeat Donald Trump. Supplying Clinton with questions ahead of the Democratic primary debate would give Clinton an unfair advantage over Bernie Sanders.

Repeatedly, Donna Brazile denied any wrongdoing, but reporters were tipped off to the ethics breach by WikiLeaks emails that showed Brazile corresponding with Clinton staff in detail about upcoming debate questions. Brazile has argued that since the emails were stolen, she is not the one in wrong.

However, WikiLeaks emails paint a damning picture in which Brazile clearly fields Clinton the questions in advance. In one email, Brazile gave the Clinton communications director information that would help Hillary Clinton prepare for the audience segment of questions.

CNN hosted the Democratic primary debates and Donna Brazile, a staffer at CNN, had access to both insider information at CNN and a close link to the Democratic Party. Many believe that someone supplied Brazile with the questions, who then forwarded them to Hillary Clinton’s staff.

Still, Donna Brazile maintained innocence and argued with Fox News host Megyn Kelly when confronted with the evidence. When Kelly pointed out more published emails where Brazile leaked debate questions to the Clinton campaign, Brazile told Kelly that she would not be persecuted and that the emails were stolen. She ended the segment telling Megyn Kelly, “Go to Russia.”

This Times essay marks the first time Donna Brazile has admitted to leaking the questions. Still, most of the essay is focused on fortifying claims that Russia hacked the election. She says that Russia attacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016 and that Donald Trump’s team has ties to Russia. She says that the point of the WikiLeaks emails was “sowing division in our ranks” and that left “Sanders supporters understandably angry.”

So while Donna Brazile has finally admitted that she did send Clinton campaign questions in advance, she maintains that she treated Bernie Sanders fairly and that any claims contrary are due to Russian interference.</s>Former interim Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile admitted Friday that she forwarded Democratic primary town hall questions to members of Hillary Clinton's campaign -In an essay for Time published Friday, called "Russian DNC Narrative Played Out Exactly As They Hoped," the Democratic strategist said she had in fact passed on topics, despite saying she had not when her communications with the campaign were leaked by WikiLeaks in October."[I]n October, a subsequent release of emails revealed that among the many things I did in my role as a Democratic operative and D.N.C. Vice Chair prior to assuming the interim D.N.C. Chair position was to share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign," she wrote.In October, emails from Clinton campaign Chair John Podesta's account were released by WikiLeaks showing thatIn one email, Brazile told Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, "One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash," the night before a March 6 CNN primary debate in Flint, Michigan."Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint," Brazile wrote.The following night, a question along those lines was posed to both Clinton and her primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt.In another email, dated Mar. 12, she passed on to Palmieri a question on the death penalty set to be asked in a Mar. 13 town hall and said: "From time to time I get the questions in advance." After Palmieri responded, Brazile wrote back: "I'll send a few more.""As a Christian woman, I understand persecution, but I will not sit here and be persecuted," Brazile said. "Your information is totally false."CNN would go on to sever ties with Brazile after the emails were leaked.In the essay, Brazile said she will "forever regret" the decision to leak the questions to the Clinton campaign."My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen. But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret," she wrote.</s>Former CNN host Donna Brazile has finally admitted that she handed the Hillary Clinton campaign debate questions during the primaries last year.

Brazile says that she has absolutely no regrets in rigging the primary debate against Bernie Sanders, in an conceited essay penned for Time.

The former CNN Democratic analyst passed questions to members of Clinton’s inner circle during the last stages of the 2016 election, and was only caught after Wikileaks released emails proving she had done so.

Brazile dodged questions about these actions for months, and CNN ended up cutting ties with her while she was serving as the interim head of the Democratic National Committee.

On Friday, Brazile penned an essay for TIME where she talked about the importance of launching an investigation into the Trump administration’s apparent connections to Russia.

As Brazile talked about how the Russians interfered with the election to President Trump‘s advantage, she reflected on how the e-mails about her were part of a strategy to destabilize the DNC.

In October, a subsequent release of emails revealed that among the many things I did in my role as a Democratic operative and D.N.C. Vice Chair prior to assuming the interim D.N.C.

Chair position was to share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign.

I had been working behind the scenes to add more town hall events and debates to the primary calendar, and I helped ensure those events included diverse moderators and addressed topics vital to minority communities.

My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen. But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret.

Brazile defended herself by saying that she received support from Bernie Sanders‘ former staff, yet the “selective” e-mail leaks fragmented party unity. Brazile concluded that Congress must take action to investigate Trump, and work on increasing online safeguards for political organizations.</s>Donna Brazile was interim head of the Democratic National Committee
• Before she became interim chair, she was vice chair of the DNC
• On March 12, 2016, she warned the Clinton campaign about a question Hillary Clinton would be asked on a CNN town hall debate
• Brazile’s email was obtained by WikiLeaks and released to the public
• Initially, Brazile claimed that the emails were altered
• On Friday, she penned an essay for Time admitting the emails were authentic</s>Donna Brazile, the former interim chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, admitted for the first time on Friday that she fed Hillary Clinton a question that would be asked during a televised town hall debate last year.

Although she initially denied sending emails to a Clinton staffer about the question, the long-time Democratic Party operative now writes in Time magazine that it 'was a mistake I will forever regret.'

'[Hacked emails] revealed that among the many things I did in my role as a Democratic operative and DNC Vice Chair prior to assuming the interim DNC Chair position was to share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign,' Brazile writes.

'I had been working behind the scenes to add more town hall events and debates to the primary calendar, and I helped ensure those events included diverse moderators and addressed topics vital to minority communities.'

'My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen. But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret.'

On March 12, 2016, one day before the CNN-moderated Democratic debate between Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Brazile sent an email about the death penalty to Clinton staffer Jennifer Palmieri with the subject: 'From time to time I get the questions in advance,' according to emails obtained by WikiLeaks.

The death penalty question was repeated verbatim in an email debate co-host Roland Martin sent to CNN producers the next day, and the question was asked using similar wording during the event in Columbus, Ohio.

Brazile's message was among the emails from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta's account that were hacked by an unknown agent and then published by WikiLeaks.

The US government and the intelligence community believes that Russia was behind the hacks against Podesta, which were part of a strategy to help Donald Trump eventually win the presidency.

During an appearance on Fox News, she claimed that the hacked emails which were published by WikiLeaks were altered.

When Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly confronted Brazile on October 19 asking how she got the question in advance, Brazile said she refused to be 'persecuted' before adding: 'I am not going to try to validate falsified information.'

Clinton's campaign has refused to verify whether the hacked emails were real.

During the presidential debates, however, Clinton's answers about paid Wall Street speeches, snippets of which were cited in the hacked emails, seemed to confirm their validity.

Brazile's message to Palmieri opened with the statement: 'Here's one that worries me about HRC.'

The email then states: '19 states and the District of Columbia have banned the death penalty. 31 states, including Ohio, still have the death penalty. According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, since 1973, 156 people have been on death row and later set free. Since 1976, 1,414 people have been executed in the US That's 11% of Americans who were sentenced to die, but later exonerated and freed. Should Ohio and the 30 other states join the current list and abolish the death penalty?'

On the day of the debate, Roland Martin's email to CNN producers contained three questions, the last of which mirrored the exact wording in Brazile's message to Palmieri.

During Wednesday's interview with Kelly, Brazile said: 'I have my documents. I have my files. Thank god I haven't had my emails ripped off from me and stolen and given to some criminal to come back altered.'

She also said: 'As a Christian woman I understand persecution but I will not stand here and be persecuted because your information is totally false.'

'Podesta's emails were stolen. You're so interested in talking about stolen material, you're like a thief that wants to bring into the night the things that you found that was in the gutter.'

Two weeks after the network made the decision, Brazile launched a scathing attack in response, accusing CNN of besmirching her reputation.

Network head Jeff Zucker reportedly called her behavior 'disgusting' during an editorial meeting after the network announced her resignation.

Brazile maintains that the network did not provide her with the information she allegedly passed on.

'CNN never gave me a question,' she said.

'I wish CNN had given me some other things, like the ability to defend myself rather than ripping me a new one.'</s>Former interim Democratic National Committee chairperson Donna Brazile has for months been dodging questions about passing along questions to Hillary Clinton's staff in advance of a CNN debate -- but now, she's speaking out and calling the misstep "a mistake I will forever regret."

Emails from Clinton campaign Chair John Podesta's account were released in October by WikiLeaks showing that the then-CNN contributor had forwarded questions ahead of a March primary debate.

In an essay Brazile wrote for Time magazine, published Friday, the Democratic strategist charts the DNC's rocky period, writing, "When I was asked last July to step in temporarily as D.N.C. Chair, I knew things were amiss. The D.N.C. had been hacked, and thousands of staff emails and documents were plastered on various websites. Staff were harassed, morale suffered, and we lost weeks of planning. Donors were harassed, and fundraising fell off."

She then addresses the release of Podesta's emails, writing, "Then in October, a subsequent release of emails revealed that among the many things I did in my role as a Democratic operative and D.N.C. Vice Chair prior to assuming the interim D.N.C. Chair position was to share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign. I had been working behind the scenes to add more town hall events and debates to the primary calendar, and I helped ensure those events included diverse moderators and addressed topics vital to minority communities."

She further explains, "My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen. But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret."

Brazile says the media's narrative of the scandal was precisely what Russia was aiming for.

"By stealing all the DNC's emails and then selectively releasing those few, the Russians made it look like I was in the tank for Secretary Clinton," she writes. "Despite the strong, public support I received from top Sanders campaign aides in the wake of those leaks, the media narrative played out just as the Russians had hoped, leaving Sanders supporters understandably angry and sowing division in our ranks."

She continues, "In reality, not only was I not playing favorites, the more competitive and heated the primary got, the harder D.N.C. staff worked to be scrupulously fair and beyond reproach. In all the months the Russians monitored the D.N.C.'s email, they found just a handful of inappropriate emails, with no sign of anyone taking action to disadvantage the Sanders campaign."</s>Former DNC chairwoman and disgraced CNN commentator Donna Brazile has admitted that she relayed confidential questions to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in advance of last year’s primary debate.

Writing in Time magazine, Brazile said she would “forever regret” the decision, which was revealed after WikiLeaks published thousands of emails belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

“When I was asked last July to step in temporarily as D.N.C. Chair,” Brazile explained, “I knew things were amiss. The D.N.C. had been hacked, and thousands of staff emails and documents were plastered on various websites. Staff were harassed, morale suffered, and we lost weeks of planning. Donors were harassed, and fundraising fell off.”

“Then in October, a subsequent release of emails revealed that among the many things I did in my role as a Democratic operative and D.N.C. Vice Chair prior to assuming the interim D.N.C. Chair position was to share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign,” Brazil added.

On October 14th, CNN accepted Brazile’s resignation as a network contributor. CNN’s Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter said Brazile’s collusion with the Clinton campaign “embarrassed all of CNN.”

But in her Time letter, Brazile said “the media narrative” about her being in cahoots with the Clinton campaign “played out just as the Russians had hoped, leaving Sanders supporters understandably angry and sowing division in our ranks.”

The WikiLeaks hack, Brazile said, is evidence that there must be a continued investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election.

“Let me be clear,” Brazile wrote, “this is not just the price of politics. This is not normal. We cannot let this stand. Our democratic process itself was attacked and harmed, and all Americans should be concerned.”

Former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has stated that he has seen no evidence — from the NSA, FBI, and CIA — proving “collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians.”</s>Donna Brazile says passing along a list of topics for a TV town hall event to Hillary Clinton's campaign was "a mistake I will forever regret."Brazile, who was the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) interim chairwoman this summer and is a former CNN contributor, opened up about last year's election in a Time magazine essay.she wrote.WikiLeaks in October published emails purportedly stolen from Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, whichcontaining information onbetween Clinton and her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)In an email dated March 12, 2016, Brazile wrote to Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri about the candidate'swith the subject header: "From time to time I get the questions in advance." "Here's one that worries me about HRC," wrote Brazile in the email, using Clinton's initials. Palmieri wrote back: "Yes, it is one she gets asked about. Not everyone likes her answer but can share it."At the town hall the next day, an audience member asked Clinton about the death penalty. CNN seemed to point the finger at TV One's Roland Martin, a former CNN political pundit, for passing along the question to Brazile in that instance. Martin has denied doing so.The released emails also showed"One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash," Brazile wrote to Podesta and Palmieri on March 6. "Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint."Martin was not involved in that debate. Both happened when Brazile was a CNN contributor, before she became the interim DNC chairwoman.Brazile maintained the questions were never supplied to her by anyone at CNN. In a November interview on Sirius XM, Brazile appeared not to regret sharing the questions in advance."My conscience — as an activist, a strategist — is very clear," Brazile said in an interview with SiriusXM host Joe Madison, adding, "If I had to do it all over again, I would know a hell of a lot more about cybersecurity."</s>Former interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile admitted Friday that she forwarded Democratic primary debate questions to the Clinton campaign – claims she had previously denied.
The former Democratic National Committee chair and ex-CNN contributor Donna Brazile admits that she had forwarded some debate questions to Hillary Clinton's campaign during last year's Democratic primary before two debates with Bernie Sanders.