Donna Brazile Dropped by CNN as She Becomes Interim DNC Chair

Move follows Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s resignation in wake of WikiLeaks scandal

Donna Brazile
Photo:Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Longtime Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile will step in as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee following the resignation of Florida U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Sunday.

The transition will take place Friday at the conclusion of the party’s convention and run through the fall election.

Brazile, who is a weekly contributor and political strategist on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” will be stepping away from her position at the news network effective immediately.

“With news of Donna Brazile stepping in as interim chair for the Democratic National Committee, CNN and Brazile have mutually agreed to temporarily suspend her contract as a contributor for the network effective immediately,” a CNN spokesman says. “As a valued voice and commentator, CNN will revisit the contract once Brazile concludes her role.”

Brazile previously served as DNC’s interim chair for a short time in 2011, which, ironically involved the Democratic Vice presidential hopeful, Tim Kaine. At the time, he was the DNC chair, but stepped down from the role to run for the U.S. Senate in Virginia, which he, ultimately, won. Brazile filled the role for a month until Wasserman Schultz took the position.

Although Brazile has contributed to presidential bids by Jesse Jackson, Walter Mondale and Dick Gephardt, she is noted as being the first African-American to run a presidential campaign, for then-Vice President Al Gore in 2000.

On Sunday, WikiLeaks also tweeted email communications from a recent hack of the DNC that the organization claimed “implicated” Brazile in the scandal that led to Wasserman Schultz’s resignation. The leaked documents suggest that party officials like Wasserman Schultz practices favoritism toward Hillary Clinton over the campaign of rival Bernie Sanders.

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