CNN and Democrat commentator Donna Brazile split, amid accusations of leaked debate questions

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Donna Brazile, interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, has departed CNN after the network learned that she contacted the Clinton campaign ahead of time about a question that would be posed during a presidential primary town hall last March. Photo: AP

Published: 9:11am, 1 Nov 2016Updated: 9:11am, 1 Nov 2016

CNN cut ties with political commentator and interim Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile after leaked emails suggested she offered advisers to Hillary Clinton advance information about presidential debate questions, the news network reported on Monday.

Brazile came under fire earlier this month after a hacked email published by WikiLeaks showed she may have tipped off the Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign about a March CNN town-hall debate question about the death penalty.

CNN announced her departure after a subsequent leaked email showed she said she was privy to “questions in advance” and offered to “send a few more.” Brazile had offered the network her resignation earlier this month, CNN reported.

Brazile previously denied allegations that she gave the Clinton campaign information about debate questions ahead of time, according to media reports.

Brazile, currently serving as interim head of the DNC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment but posted several tweets on Monday as the news broke.

“Thank you @CNN,” Brazile tweeted. “Honoured to be a Democratic strategist and commentator on the network. Godspeed to all my former colleagues.”