Report: Clinton-DNC deal revealed in memo

A memo detailing the agreement between the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton in 2016 has been revealed amid claims that Clinton was given improper influence over the committee’s finances and staffing before earning the party’s nomination for president. 

Former DNC interim chairwoman Donna Brazile says in an excerpt revealed this week from her upcoming book that the agreement was “unethical” and harmed Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) chances against Clinton in the Democratic primary.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook signed the agreement on Aug. 26, 2016, with DNC CEO Amy Dacey, allowing the Hillary For America (HFA) campaign and its joint fundraising apparatus with the DNC to help repay the party’s $24 million debt through a monthly allowance. 

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Brazile said that Clinton’s victory fund was not supposed to be intertwined with DNC finances before she won the primary. HFA, Brazile said, would divide funds between the campaign and a number of state parties involved in the agreement before giving the rest to the national committee.

The memo, revealed Friday by NBC News, said that “HFA personnel will be consulted and have joint authority over strategic decisions over the staffing, budget, expenditures, and general election related communications, data, technology, analytics, and research.”

The agreement was not necessarily exclusive to the Clinton campaign, it said, and remained open to signing agreements with others for advisement on fundraising, research and staffing.

It was intended only to be used in the general election, although it contains clauses related to other primary candidates. Those included an allowance for Clinton’s campaign to review mass communications featuring a Democratic primary candidate, as well as to review outgoing mass communication “that features a particular Democratic primary candidate.”

The DNC noted that communication related to primary debates “will be exclusively controlled by the DNC.”

“Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to violate the DNC’s obligation of impartiality and neutrality through the Nominating process,” the memo says. “All activities performed under this agreement will be focused exclusively on preparations for the General Election and not the Democratic Primary.”

“Further we understand you may enter into similar agreements with other candidates,” it added.

— Updated Nov. 4, 2017.