UPDATED 7/29/2016 9:20 p.m. ET: Hillary CLinton announced via email that she would be adding former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz as an honorary chair for her campaign. Donald Trump responded accordingly:
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UPDATED 7/24/2016 7:11 p.m. ET: Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday afternoon that she will step down from her role as the Democratic party leader after the Democratic National Conference, which runs June 25-28 in Philadelphia. WikiLeaks published a trove of nearly 20,000 emails on Friday that hinted at attempts by party officials to use Sanders' religion against him during the primary season.
"I know that electing Hillary Clinton as our next president is critical for America’s future," Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. "I look forward to serving as a surrogate for her campaign in Florida and across the country to ensure her victory."
Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort shared his statement on Wasserman Schultz, calling for Hillary Clinton to drop out.
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Just a few days ago, WikiLeaks released an additional 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Party, revealing several donors' social security numbers, and more importantly, that members of the Democratic Party had been working against former hopeful Bernie Sanders all along. Several of the emails revealed that certain party officials, including Democratic chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had become increasingly annoyed with Sanders as the primary season moved forward. Now a source says, in the wake of the email leaks, that Wasserman Schultz no longer has a major speaking role at the Democratic National Convention.
A spokesperson for the Democratic party said the decision to revoke Wasserman Schultz's major speaking role is an effort to "keep the peace" in the party while tensions are high, CNNreports. While the emails demonstrate impartiality on several instances, perhaps the most egregious case is one email that shows Democratic staffers asking how to reference Sanders' religious faith to weaken his support from Southern voters. A different email shows an attorney briefing the committee on how to defend Clinton against certain accusations from the Sanders campaign.
Wasserman is expected to gavel the convention, but she won't speak in light of her apparent involvement in the WikiLeaks scandal. Following a meeting Saturday night, another top Democrat said, "She's been quarantined." The decision to not have Wasserman speak at the convention appears to be out of respect for Sanders, who has been angry at Wasserman for favoring Clinton, as well as his supporters.
