The tight relationship between The Washington Post and the Democratic National Committee was borne out in emails discovered in the 20,000-deep email trove from the DNC posted on WikiLeaks.
In an April 26 email to Mark Paustenbach, the DNC’s deputy communications director, the paper’s White House Bureau Chief Juliet Eilperin wrote:
Subject: just FYI, the story is running on A1 tomorrow
Dear Mark,
I think you all will be totally fine with it. Thanks again for all your help.
Best, Juliet
The article was a review of President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the Democratic Party — “Obama, who once stood as party outsider, now works to strengthen Democrats” — written by Eilperin.
Eilperin (pictured) told Breitbart News: “As with most reporters, I regularly contact officials at the DNC, RNC, and political offices for information. The context of the email was that I honored the conditions of our discussions. The story speaks for itself.”
Walter Garcia, who is the party’s press secretary for its Western Region, weighed in on the article after it was published: “Not sure if you’ve already seen it, but flagging this article for you guys. Overall, not too bad for us.”
Garcia pointed out where in the article the DNC’s messaging was reflected in Eilperin final draft — particularly that the president’s own private political machine “Organizing for Action,” which was once “Obama for America.”
Eilperin wrote:
Organizing for Action (OFA), the nonprofit group that grew out of Obama’s campaign operation, has continued to compete with the Democratic National Committee for Democratic dollars — first as a parallel organization within the DNC and then as a separate entity. In the first six months of 2013, the DNC raised $30.8 million, while OFA raised $13 million. And this was at a time when the DNC was carrying more than $18 million in debt.
Garcia also cited a conversation Eilperin related: “During a 2010 gathering of Democratic governors in Washington, according to multiple attendees, one governor asked a senior presidential political adviser, ‘Will the OFA please join the Democratic Party?'”
Apparently, Eilperin had been working with the Paustenbach, because when he forwarded the email to the DNC’s Director of Communications Luis Miranda, Miranda replied: “Yup. Thanks to you and walker for connecting Roberta. I think her line was helpful.”
The quote Mirada appreciated was this one: “Close cooperation has taken time; OFA gave the DNC limited access to its list of supporters starting in 2013, but it turned over the entire list only in August 2015. Now, according to Nevada Democratic Party chair Roberta Lange, ‘That voter file is used by everyone in our state.'”
Certainly, the DNC appreciates it anytime there is close cooperation.
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