WH defends Brazile in wake of debate leak revelations

The White House defended interim Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile on Monday, amid accusations she sent debate questions to Hillary Clinton’s campaign when she was a CNN contributor. 

“The president believes she has done a fine job stepping in, in a very difficult situation, to lead the Democratic Party,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. 

“Those of us who’ve known Donna for a long time know she is a person of character,” he added.

{mosads}A hacked email published Monday by WikiLeaks appears to show that Brazile giving a heads up to top Clinton advisers John Podesta and Jennifer Palmieri about a primary debate question.

In the email dated March 5 — the day before a CNN-hosted debate in Flint, Mich. — Brazile wrote that one woman picked to ask a question “… will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint.” 

The emails were sent before Brazile was named interim DNC chairwoman. 

CNN announced Monday it has formally cut ties with Brazile, saying, ”We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor.”  

The network said the move occurred on Oct. 14, days after the controversy first surfaced. 

“Thank you @CNN. Honored to be a Democratic Strategist and commentator on the network. Godspeed to all my former colleagues,” Brazile tweeted Monday. 

Thank you @CNN. Honored to be a Democratic Strategist and commentator on the network. Godspeed to all my former colleagues.

— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) October 31, 2016

The emails fueled accusations that members of the Democratic establishment tried to tip the scales in the Democratic primary against Clinton’s opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) 

Those same accusations took down former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz just before the party’s convention in July, and led to Brazile taking the interim DNC role.