Howard Dean: Clinton-DNC agreement was ‘standard operating procedure’

Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Howard Dean said Friday an agreement between Hillary Clinton and the DNC was “standard operating procedure.”

“Turns out the memo [former DNC chair] Donna [Brazile] spoke about applied only to the general election,” Dean said. “If so then this memo is standard operating procedure for 15 years.” 

Turns out the memo Donna spoke about applied only to the general election. If so then this memo is standard operating procedure for 15 years https://t.co/fsU1kMZoSp

— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) November 3, 2017

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

{mosads}The memo, revealed Friday by NBC News, said that Hillary for America 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 and allowed the DNC to remain open to signing agreements with other candidates for advising on fundraising, research and staffing.

It was intended only to be used in the general election, although the agreement contains clauses related to other primary candidates, including an allowance for Clinton’s campaign to review mass communications “that features a particular Democratic primary candidate.”

The DNC noted in the memo 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,” the agreement read.

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

Brazile blasted the agreement in her book, saying it “was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical.”

“This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party’s integrity,” Brazile wrote.

President Trump waded into the debate over the agreement on Friday, accusing Clinton of rigging the Democratic presidential primary and calling on the FBI and Justice Department to launch investigations into her and her campaign.

Brazile pushed back on Twitter, saying Trump misquoted her and imploring Trump to attack her instead of “having [her] own words scrambled and spewed out by you.”