When former FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress, I thought I’d seen it all. In an event liberals and anti-Trumpers expected to end Donald’s short tenure as president, Comey instead divulged information that implicated everyone (except Trump) of wrongdoing. Including Comey himself.
He accused the Obama administration, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and Hillary Clinton of shocking breaches of trust and law. He even implicated himself, when he mentioned that he illegally leaked memos to a friend that ended up in the press. (He did of course, slander the President, whom Comey called a liar).
I had never seen anyone throw others under the bus so swiftly and without a second thought since Adam did that to Eve in the Garden. But what came out last week from former Interim Chairwoman of the DNC, Donna Brazile, really takes the cake.
For quite a long time, conservatives and even some liberals have excused the Democratic Party of stealing the 2016 Presidential election. They tried to steal the general election, with dishonest attacks and bogus media coverage. But we knew for a fact they rigged the primaries against any competition to Hillary Clinton. Leaked emails leading up to the convention last summer all but confirmed it.
There was clear evidence that people within the DNC were “in the bag” for Hillary long before she won the nomination. Leaked emails suggested that their leaders were helping Clinton secure the nomination, even scheming to undermine the growing momentum behind Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
Why was that so bad? Why do I, a conservative, even care? Because the primary process is a part of our democracy. A political party (even a terrible one) deserves to have their members vote and have their voices heard. During the primaries, it was clear that Bernie Sanders was gaining incredible momentum. Many people thought we would see a repeat of 2008, when another unknown overtook Hillary to secure the nomination.
Now we know that was never going to happen, because Hillary Clinton bought out the DNC, way before the nominations were in.
In her article entitled “Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC,” Donna Brazile explains, in no uncertain terms, how Clinton and the leaders of the party violated the integrity of their own party’s democracy to rig the system.
Why? Because of cash, of course.
But in the process of coming clean, Brazile implicates everyone. Including beloved former president, Barry Obama.
Obama left the party $24 million in debt—$15 million in bank debt and more than $8 million owed to vendors after the 2012 campaign—and had been paying that off very slowly. Obama’s campaign was not scheduled to pay it off until 2016. Hillary for America (the campaign) and the Hillary Victory Fund (its joint fundraising vehicle with the DNC) had taken care of 80 percent of the remaining debt in 2016, about $10 million, and had placed the party on an allowance. (Via Politico)
Running a presidential campaign is incredibly expensive. While Obama had his own funds coming in the form of campaign contributions, he still needed cash from the Democratic Party. That’s normal; he was their nominee after all. But the party needed money once the election was over. It seemed like Obama’s people were unwilling to replenish the DNC’s coffers. Didn’t he realize there would be more elections after 2012? Didn’t he care about the future of the party?
It seems like liberals have a pattern of burning through cash, with little concern for the future. But I digress.
Because the DNC was out of cash and in debt, Hillary had a solution. With her connections, she would undoubtedly be able to raise money on her own. She actually didn’t need the DNC, as far as money was concerned. But the DNC needed her. In addition to the presidential election, there were many state and local votes up for grabs in 2016. Other Democrats were running for office and needed funds. So Hillary offered to funnel cash from her campaigns to fund the DNC—in exchange for total control.
This, of course, a year before she was actually selected as the nominee.
The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias—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. 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. (Via Politico)
This was against the Democrats’ own rules, because their officers—the people in charge of the party—were not informed. Only a select few knew about this arrangement, including former chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
But that wasn’t even enough. It turns out the money that should have gone to help local campaigns across the country never made it to the DNC’s coffers. Once again, Hillary Clinton scammed people who trusted her—in order to enrich herself.
Individuals who had maxed out their $2,700 contribution limit to the campaign could write an additional check for $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund—that figure represented $10,000 to each of the 32 states’ parties who were part of the Victory Fund agreement—$320,000—and $33,400 to the DNC. The money would be deposited in the states first, and transferred to the DNC shortly after that. Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn. (Via Politico)
“Brooklyn” being the headquarters of Hillary’s campaign. Brazile went on to say that the states only got half of 1 percent of the money they were supposed to get. Liberals complaining about the slaughter they experienced in the last election? It wasn’t Russia, kids; it was your own nominee, who deprived your state and local elections of needed funds to mount campaigns against your conservative rivals.
The story laid out by Brazile is shocking and damning. People who thought the DNC was doing things properly, allowing their members to select a nominee, were conned from the beginning. Four months into her campaign, Hillary took over the party. Bernie had no chance. The primaries were just a charade. He was never going to win, because Hillary was calling the shots.
Her greed and ambition screwed all well-meaning liberals who wanted a say in the democratic process. She also screwed every other Democrat running, who did not have enough cash raised on their own.
Brazile’s confessions damned the DNC, Wasserman Schultz, Clinton, even Barack Obama. Everyone except herself. But we haven’t forgotten how you slipped questions to Clinton before debates with Bernie, Donna. You’re hardly a virtuous crusader in this story.
The only thing left to ask is, what are real Democrats going to do about this? Your party leaders epically failed and betrayed you. If you don’t go out there, demanding blood for these crimes, you’re a part of the problem.
