Former CNN contributor and current Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile provided the Hillary Clinton campaign a question for a town hall event in advance, according to an email dump by WikiLeaks.
{mosads}In an email dated March 12, 2016, Brazile — a CNN political analyst and DNC vice chair at the time — wrote to Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri with a heads up on a question about the candidate’s stance on the death penalty with the subject header: “From time to time I get the questions in advance.”
The Democratic presidential primary event with Clinton and Bernie Sanders was held the following day, March 13, and an audience member asked her the question about the death penalty. The event was hosted by Roland Martin and Jake Tapper, also host of CNN’s “State of the Union” and “The Lead.”
Brazile, who was a CNN contributor at the time of the email, asked Palmieri about Clinton’s stance on the death penalty.
“Here’s one that worries me about HRC,” wrote Brazile in the email.
Palmieri wrote back: “Yes, it is one she gets asked about. Not everyone likes her answer but can share it.”
Clinton has supported the death penalty, putting her at odds with the Democratic Party’s platform, though acknowledges there are issues with how it’s applied. Sanders is opposed to capital punishment.
At the town hall, she said she would like to see states or the Supreme Court move toward abolishing it but said it “could still be held in reserve” for certain federal cases, such as terrorism.
In a statement to The Hill, CNN said, “To be perfectly clear: We have never, ever given a town hall question to anyone beforehand.”
The conversation is part of WikiLeaks’ trove of emails hacked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
CNN suspended Brazile after she was named chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee in the wake of Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s resignation at the party convention in Philadelphia in July after fallout from other leaked emails.
Wasserman Schultz and senior DNC officials were found attempting to undermine the Sanders campaign.
