Donald Trump

San Francisco Hosts Former Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile to Discuss ‘The Hacking of an American Election'

Donna Brazile, a former Democratic National Committee interim chair, addressed a crowd in San Francisco on Thursday evening.

The veteran political strategist spoke at the sold-out Marines' Memorial Theatre at 600 Sutter St. The Commonwealth Club conversation was called "The Hacking of an American Election," according to the event's website.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned from the helm of the DNC in July 2016, while the party was in a state of chaos and dealing with internal rivalries, leaked emails, and a hacker, event organizers wrote.

Brazile stepped in as chairwoman while the DNC experienced one of its most volatile times — complete with bomb threats, cyberattacks and Twitter feuds with President Donald Trump.

Her new book, "Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House" has garnered attention nationwide. 

There were a number of reasons why Brazile decided to write the memoir. One, she said, was her desire to talk about the election hacking and why it’s important to voters to demand accountability.

She also talked about what she saw behind the scenes that she simply didn’t agree with and why she stayed in a particularly challenging situation.

"I did it because I love Hillary," she said. "I did it because I love my country. I did it because the DNC was hacked."

Brazile said data was corrupted and voter files were compromised.

"For a campaign to rely on data and analytics at a time when the Russians were essetnailly using active measures to disrupt our campaign and discredit our nominee, let me just tell you, I wanted to write this story because I believe it’s a warning to all Americans," she said.

She also touched on a fundraising agreement between Clinton’s campaign and the party.

Bernie Sanders supporter Barbara Farhner was concerned about debate questions during the Democratic primary and came to hear Brazile’s side of the story.

"I think she should have come out, but it is for the moment driving the party even farther apart," Farhner said. "I didn’t feel she was bashing anybody. I feel she was trying to give her observations and again that hopefully we can learn from this and do a better job."

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