Democratic National Committee chair and former CNN contributor Donna Brazile leaked a debate question in advance to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Wikileaks exposed on Monday.
Brazile sent an email to Clinton campaign head John Podesta and communications director Jennifer Palmieri the day before the March 6 primary debate in Flint, Mich., which was hosted by CNN.
The email subject read: "One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash."
"Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint," Brazile wrote in the email.
During the debate, a woman named Lee Anne Walters brought up the Flint water crisis, which she said caused stunted growth in her twin sons and hair loss in her daughter. She directed her question at both Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders and challenged them if they would make it a priority to remove lead service lines in public water systems if they should get elected president.
In another email thread, dated a few days after the Flint debate, Brazile informed Palmieri that one of the questions to be asked at the town hall debate would be about the death penalty.
She told Palmieri that "from time to time I get the questions in advance" and promised to send more when she gets them.
"I rarely hear it. I'll send a few more. Though some questions Roland submitted," she wrote, referring to TV host Roland Martin, co-moderator of the town hall debate.
When previous emails leaked earlier last month indicated that she leaked some debate questions, Brazile initially denied the accusations.
"As it pertains to the CNN debates, I never had access to questions and would never have shared them with the candidates if I did," she said, according to The Washington Post.
On Monday, when the new batch of Wikileaks emails surfaced, CNN distanced itself from Brazile and announced through spokesperson Lauren Pratapas that it has accepted her resignation as contributor on Oct. 14. Brazile's status as a contributor for the network was already suspended when she became interim DNC chair, but now she had resigned for good.
"On October 14, CNN accepted Donna Brazile's resignation as a CNN contributor. CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate," CNN said in a statement. "We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor."
