Donna Brazile on campaign tell-all: 'I wanted the American people to see what happened'

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Brazile: I wanted the American people to see what happened

Former interim head of the DNC Donna Brazile opens up on controversial campaign tell-all.

Former interim head of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile appeared to back away Wednesday from some of the most sensational claims made in her recently released tell-all about last year’s presidential election.

In an interview on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Brazile described her book as a "forensic examination" of the failures of the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

"I wanted to write this book to tell my story," Brazile told host Tucker Carlson of her memoir, called "Hacks." "I wanted the American people to see what happened."

During a wide-ranging interview, Brazile said she leaked questions at a Democratic primary town hall to members of Hillary Clinton’s campaign because she didn’t want the candidates to be "blindsided."

"That’s the greatest spin I’ve ever heard" Carlson laughed in response. "I didn’t want them blindsided? That’s so good, you should do this for a living. That is hilarious."

"Wikileaks sought to divide us," Brazile responded. "These were active measures where you got to see the things I gave to Hillary. You never got a chance to see the things I gave to [Sen.] Bernie [Sanders] or [former Maryland Gov.] Martin O’Malley."

Previously released excerpts from Brazile's book accused Clinton's top male campaign staffers of sexist treatment. But on Wednesday night, Brazile ascribed her conflicts with campaign manager Robby Mook to "generational" differences.

"Remember, I come from the old school," Brazile said. "I come from the school [where] you actually knock on doors, you talk to people, you try to get their support [and] then you try to get them out on Election Day. Robby comes from a school that is a lot different … they do algorithms, they do data modeling."

Brazile called the Clinton campaign "condescending and dismissive" toward her and complained that she didn't have total control of the party's resources.

Another excerpt from Brazile’s book that has been made public accused her predecessor as DNC chair – Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz – of indulging in costly perks, including a “chief of staff and a body woman,” even as the party wrestled with a cash crunch that left it dependent on the Clinton campaign.

But on Wednesday, Brazile defended Wasserman Schultz’s handling of the DNC’s hacking that resulted in the release of a trove of emails by Wikileaks last summer.

“When [the hack] was brought to her attention, she immediately reached out to get cybersecurity experts on board … along with our cyber attorney, they provided the FBI with everything that they requested.”

When Carlson pressed her on why the DNC did not turn over its servers to the FBI, Brazile answered, “we were still running a party,” adding that the party spent “over $60,000” to assist the hacking investigation.

"After I received my FBI briefing in August, do you know what I wanted to do?” Brazile asked Carlson. "I wanted to go over to the Pentagon. I didn’t want to go back to the DNC. I wanted somebody to put yellow tape around the DNC. I was scared. We were under attack."