Donna Brazile Flatly Denies Giving Questions to Hillary Clinton – The Root
Donna Brazile was a CNN commentator until last summer. (CNN) Im Not Going to Allow the Lies to Stand
Donna Brazile, the veteran Democratic political strategist who parted ways with CNN last year amid WikiLeaks revelations appearing to show that she provided the Hillary Clinton campaign with questions she would be asked in a televised CNN town hall, flatly denied Saturday that she had done so.
At no time did I receive or participate in the drafting or dissemination of questions provided by CNN, Brazile told Journal-isms by email.
In a follow-up telephone conversation, Brazile said, Im not going to allow the lies to stand.
She said she needed no prompting to advise Clinton to discuss the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich. I as a black woman wanted Flint to be front and center in our conversation about who should be the next president, she said.
Brazile is a New Orleans native who had witnessed Hurricane Katrina. Am I supposed to sit there and let people get poisoned? she asked.
A second question was about the death penalty. She noted that Black Lives Matter was vocal during this period.
Brazile said she felt more at liberty to speak out now that she is no longer interim chair of the Democratic National Committee. In fact, she disclosed that she had been accepted as a fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University in the fall and plans to write about punditry and journalism.
Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez was elected new party chair on Feb. 25.
Brazile spoke with Journal-isms after publishing an essay in Time magazine that some reporters interpreted as confirming that she had passed along town hall questions to Clinton.
Adam Shaw wrote Friday for Fox News, 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. . . .
In his Reliable Sources email newsletter, also distributed Friday, Brian Stelter of CNN wrote, In a new column for Time mag, ex-DNC chair and ex-CNN commentator Donna Brazile admits (for the first time so explicitly) that she did share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign. Stelter also wrote, She does not specify how she obtained the potential Qs.
Similar interpretations were put forward Friday and Saturday by ABC News, the Washington Times, the Washington Free Beacon, the Cox Media Group and the Hill. Joe Conchas story in the Hill, headlined, Brazile: Sending Clinton town hall topics mistake I will forever regret, had drawn 2,292 comments by 3 p.m. ET Saturday.
Braziles essay was worded differently from those headlines. 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, she wrote.
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.
By stealing all the DNCs emails and then selectively releasing those few, the Russians made it look like I was in the tank for Secretary Clinton.
The hacked emails came from the account of John Podesta, chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. My emails were never hacked, Brazile noted.
Hadas Gold reported for Politico on Oct. 31 that the hacked emails show that Brazile, on two separate instances, tipped off the Clinton campaign ahead of time on questions that might come her way at CNN events.
In the first instance, ahead of a March 13 CNN town hall, it appears that guest-moderator Roland Martin from TV One may have shared his contributions to the questions with Brazile. In an email the day before the town hall to senior Clinton staffers, Brazile wrote: From time to time I get the questions in advance and included the text of a question about the death penalty.
An email later obtained by POLITICO showed that the text of the question Brazile sent to the Clinton campaign was identical to a proposed question Martin had offered CNN. (A similar, though not identical question, was ultimately posed to Clinton at the town hall).
The Martin connection was seemingly cemented on Monday when WikiLeaks published more of that thread, featuring a newly released reply in which Brazile promises to send additional questions.
Ill send a few more, Brazile wrote, adding, Though some questions Roland submitted. . . .
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaped on the emails and declared that the DNC should fire Brazile.
Asked to respond to last falls reporting, Brazile said by email, First and foremost, I can not substantiate any of the hacked stolen emails published by Wikileaks.
They were not my emails and I can only inform the public of my own intentions.
As it relates to the various leaked emails, I go back to my initial reply: At no time did CNN provide me as an on air contributor access to or information on questions used for any of the forums they sponsored or hosted.
CNN never supplied me with questions in advance and I never had access to any of the editorial meetings or discussions.
Brazile has maintained throughout that the focus should be on the Russian hacking, which since then has consumed more media attention.
The media were complicit, Brazile said of the Podesta email story, in treating it as if it was the cats meow, adding that it played into the hands of WikiLeaks and the Russians. Context matters, she added. WikiLeaks intention was always to disrupt and to sow discord between Clinton and Bernie Sanders followers, she said.
Donna Brazile with Trevor Noah, The Daily Show With Trevor Noah: What Democrats Got Wrong in the 2016 Election (video)
During his campaign for president, Donald Trump pledged to help inner cities and African American communities in particular, Alana Semuels wrote Thursday for the Atlantic. But his proposed budget eliminates programs that have helped these communities for years, and would deal a particular blow to Americans with the lowest incomes.
It was an example of how the news media have leaped on Trumps budget proposal, issued Thursday, as evidence of the presidents hypocrisy and willingness to inflict hardships on poor people at home and abroad.
On the CBS Evening News on Friday, Michelle Miller reported from central Georgia on the Meals on Wheels program, which delivers hot and cold meals to elderly people who cant get out of the house and, she said, receives one-third of its budget from the federal government. (video)
After interviewing residents who depend on the program, Miller cut to Mick Mulveney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
We cant spend money on programs just because they sound good, Mulveney said. Well take the federal money and give it to the states and say we want to give you money for programs that dont work.
Miller then cut to a caregiver in central Georgia who said, Excuse me. I see these people waiting for their food to come every day. It works.
Millers report was followed by a piece from anchor Scott Pelley in South Sudan, previewing a segment for Sundays 60 Minutes on the humanitarian crisis in that country, which would bear some of the cuts in U.S. humantarian aid.
Nahal Toosi and Josh Dawsey wrote Thursday for Politico, With his new budget plan, President Donald Trump has a stark message for foreign governments and aid workers seeking Washingtons help to stop famines, shelter refugees and deal with other crises: Dont count on America.
But a furious, diverse and largely united cast of critics has a response to that: Youll regret this. . . .
The critical print, web and and broadcast coverage has not escaped the notice of right-wing media and Trump supporters and even some skeptical reporters for progressive publications.
Nicholas Fondacaro reported for Newsbusters.com on Thursday, The Big Three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) pulled out all the stops and sharpened their knives for their effort to tear into the White Houses budget proposal on Thursday.
President Trump has unveiled his first budget proposal covering all the things the federal government pays for and how he wants to spend the money, announced anchor Lester Holt during NBC Nightly News, Theres a lot more money for the military but there are critics who say popular programs and the poor would pay the price.
Its the primary promise of the Trump presidency, reporter Peter Alexander declared after Holts announcement. A budget blueprint spending nearly $60 billion more on defense, Homeland Security and Veterans care offset by deep and in some cases unprecedented cuts, he seemed to whine, The State Department slashed by 29% targeting foreign aid. The environmental protection agency sliced by 31% including programs to combat climate change. . . .
Kevin Drum wrote Friday in Mother Jones that the Meals on Wheels case was misreported by many in the mainstream. Trump has proposed to zero out Community Development Block Grants, but not specifically Meals on Wheels.
Im no expert on community block grants. I dont know if theyre a good idea or not. And God knows the Trump skinny budget is a disgraceful piece of work for the richest country on the planet, Drum wrote. But spinning this as Mulvaney guts Meals on Wheels is pretty ridiculous. The vast majority of federal funding for Meals on Wheels which comes via HHSs Administration on Aging, not HUDs CDBGs [Community Development Block Grants] remains intact. Someone managed to plant this idea with reporters, and more power to them. Good job! But reporters ought to be smart enough not to fall for it.
Still, its not only reporters who detect hypocrisy.
For Donald Trump, being a compassionate conservative like George W. Bush wasnt good enough, Heidi M Przybyla reported Friday for USA Today.
During his campaign, he cast himself as an uncompromising populist who would fight for forgotten poor, rural Americans. But his budget blueprint is a betrayal of those people and his populist message, according to several former Republican budget officials. . . .
Semuels Atlantic piece went into further detail on cuts to programs aiding the poor. The proposed budget, announced Thursday, would slash funding from federal agencies that lend assistance to poor people who live in cities, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
This budget seriously harms low-income people and communities at the expense of everyone else, says Elyse Cherry, the CEO of Boston Community Capital, a nonprofit that provides funding to organizations that work on affordable housing and jobs in low-income communities. . . .
Will Bunch, Philadelphia Daily News: Now America knows what a tinhorn dictator budget looks like
Josh Cohen, Marketwatch: Opinion: Trumps deep cut to HUDs budget would hurt the poor and elderly, and destroy jobs
Jarvis DeBerry: NOLA.COM | the Times-Picayune: If the Republican plan decreases coverage, then its not a health care act
Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post: College-prep programs for the poor slashed in Trumps budget
Editorial, Native Sun News: Waiting for the next shoe to drop!
Pam Fessler, NPR: Advocates Say Trump Budget Cuts Will Hurt Countrys Most Vulnerable
Suzanne Gamboa, NBC Latino: Republican Latinos Troubled by GOPs Obamacare Replacement
Michael M. Grynbaum and Ben Sisario, New York Times: Public Broadcasters Fear Collapse if U.S. Drops Support
Emil Guillermo, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: Thanks to Hawaii and Ismail Elshikh, Travel Ban 2.0 Blocked For Now
IRIN: Trump cuts, South Sudan aid, and the six-year war in Syria: The Cheat Sheet
Shaun King, Daily News, New York: Donald Trumps budget is destructive and exactly what Steve Bannon wants
Joseph Lichterman, Nieman Lab: This is what could happen if Donald Trumps plan to eliminate funding for public broadcasting is enacted
Steven Mufson and Tracy Jan, Washington Post: If youre a poor person in America, Trumps budget is not for you
Sahra V. Nguyen, NBC Asian America: NBC Asian America Presents: Deported (five-part documentary series)
Andrs Oppenheimer, Miami Herald: Trumps isolationism is pushing countries into Chinas arms
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Have populist politics reached peak Trump?
Brad Plumer, vox.com: Trumps budget would cut funding for Appalachia and his allies in coal country are livid
Eduardo Porter, New York Times: Trump Budget Proposal Reflects Working-Class Resentment of the Poor
Sheryl Huggins Solomon, Ebony: What African-Americans Have to Lose From Trumps Budget Plan
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., National Newspaper Publishers Association: President Trump Should Consider CBC Budget If Hes Serious about Helping Black America
Lisa Wozniak and Rick Baker, mlive.com: Slashing Great Lakes Restoration funds threatens Michigan jobs and well-being
President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration can get around the media when the media doesnt tell the truth, so I like that, Dylan Byers reported Friday for CNN Money.
The president was referring to his Twitter account. But recently he has taken steps to control news coverage.
The Trump administration has given preferential access to favorable outlets while excluding others a move critics say is dangerously reminiscent of state-controlled media.
In the latest incident, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson invited Fox News to cover his meeting at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, on the North-South Korea border, but denied access to the press pool that provides all media outlets with an account of the secretarys activities.
Fox unilateral network team was allowed into this meeting pool asked for access and was blocked, wrote CNNs Pamela Boykoff, the author of Fridays pool report. Local embassy official told the pool it was the Secretarys decision. . . .
Tillerson was already being criticized for refusing to allow pool reporters to accompany him on his plane during the trip, which had been a standard practice for his predecessors at the State Department. Tillerson did allow a reporter from the conservative Independent Journal Review to accompany him, but not as a pool reporter.
That reporter, Erin McPike, has not filed any stories from the trip so far a source of consternation among other members of the media.. . .
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Boston Globe: Secretary Tillerson has dealt with dictators. Why is he scared of a free press?
Lisa de Moraes, Deadline Hollywood: Jesse Watters Asks Donald Trump If He Would Fire Alec Baldwin Or Jeff Zucker
Julie Pace, Associated Press: Analysis: Trump learning that in White House, words matter
Reporters Without Borders: Predators of press freedom use fake news as a censorship tool
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post: Trumpism is losing, again and again
Allan Smith, Business Insider: Sean Spicer angrily defends Trumps wiretap claims in wild, contentious press briefing
Twitter: Trumps upcoming interview with Fox News is facing backlash
Erik Wemple, Washington Post: That moment when President Trump faced the farce of his media critiques
Claude Lewis, 82, of Cherry Hill, a distinguished journalist who made history as the first person of color to write a regular newspaper column in Philadelphia and inspired generations of African Americans to follow him into the profession, died Thursday, March 16, Bonnie L. Cook reported for the Philadelphia Inquirer, which displayed the obituary on the front page of its print edition Friday .
After battling diabetes for years, Mr. Lewis died of complications from the disease at Virtua Voorhees Hospital, said his daughter, Beverley Wilson. The illness claimed his vision beginning a decade ago, she said. . . .
Apart from his career at the old Philadelphia Bulletin and then the Inquirer, Lewis was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists in 1973 and the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975.
Moreover, Lewis articulated the aspirations of many journalists of color when in 1982 he became founding editor of the National Leader, the first black national newspaper about African Americans.
I always felt I wanted to play some role in creating a black image in America, and telling the truth about it, Lewis told the Associated Press at the time.
Joe Davidson, now a Washington Post columnist, was among those quoted in the Inquirer obituary. After the Bulletin closed in 1982, Mr. Lewis, Davidson, and lawyer Ragan Henry joined forces to establish the National Leader, a weekly publication based in Philadelphia aimed at black readers, Cook wrote. Davidson was managing editor.
Though the publication lasted only a few years, Davidson recalled, it was one of the most rewarding parts of my career.
Lewis echoed that. When Henry died in 2008, Lewis told Michel Martin on NPRs Tell Me More, It was probably the best job I ever had.
Claude was an important force in journalism in the 1970s, Davidson added in NABJs announcement of Lewis death. He meant a lot to me personally and to a lot of black journalists professionally. He lured me away from The Inquirer to work as managing editor at The Leader. It was an opportunity to serve the black community with high quality journalism. . . .
Cook continued, In 1985, Mr. Lewis was hired by the Inquirer to serve on its editorial board and produce a column called Looking at America. He chronicled this country in all its flawed glory, Jane Eisner, then editorial page editor, wrote when he stepped down from the assignment in October 1997. He retired from the newspaper in 2009.
Claude, she wrote, never seemed to forget whom he was writing for, the ordinary American struggling with change, confronting senseless violence, racism, poverty, and a loss of respect for life.
The NABJ release noted that Lewis covered the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, meeting and interviewing such icons as Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1968, Lewis left a meeting in Philadelphia to join the King family in Memphis immediately after receiving the news that King was shot.
Claude was a journalist miles ahead of his time, and he achieved recognition long before many recognized him, said NABJ Founder Paul Brock. . . .
Hughes influenced Lewis decision to become a journalist, according to a 1991 interview Lewis gave to Wayne Dawkins for Dawkins Black Journalists: The NABJ Story, published in 1993.
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Donna Brazile Flatly Denies Giving Questions to Hillary Clinton - The Root