Sanders aide defends Donna Brazile after leaked emails

A top aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders brushed aside criticism of interim Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Donna Brazile on Tuesday, in the wake of leaked emails showing she may have tipped off Hillary Clinton’s campaign off about a primary debate question. 

{mosads}Tad Devine, a key confidante of the Vermont senator, defended Brazile on MSNBC.

He argued that while the Sanders presidential campaign believed the DNC had its “thumb on the scale” during the Democratic primary — the campaign briefly push a lawsuit against the party over a clash about voter data — he “wouldn’t include [Brazile] in that group.”

“I’ve known her for 30 years, I was in constant touch with her for the campaign,” Devine said. 

“If Bernie Sanders had been the nominee of the party and the Russians hacked my emails instead of John [Podesta]’s, we’d be reading all these notes between Donna and I and they’d say Donna was cozying up to the Bernie campaign. This is taken out of context. I found her to be a fair arbiter, I think she did a good and honest job.”

Sanders allies have flocked to Brazile’s defense over the past few days, with former press secretary turned CNN commentator Symone Sanders calling her “even-handed” in an interview with Politico. 

But some progressives are still frustrated over the latest revelations, which come as part of the WikiLeaks dump of emails from Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, that showed Brazile apparently giving the Clinton campaign the substance of a deabe or town hall question on two occasions. 

At the time, Brazile served as DNC vice chairwoman and was a CNN commentator. She assuming the role of interim chairwoman after Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned over the summer, when the first DNC emails showed top officials favoring Clinton in her primary against Sanders.

CNN cut ties with Brazile in October, after the second revelation.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has sought to fan the flames by repeatedly referencing the emails during his recent rallies.