The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign sought to oust former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz months before her forced resignation. The story was first reported by the Washington Free Beacon last week.
A new batch of WikiLeaks emails released Friday included a December 2015 internal memo, forwarded by campaign chief of staff Heather Stone, which urged "systemic shifts at the DNC leadership level" to help Clinton pivot to the general election.
The emails came from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta's hacked account. The U.S. director of national intelligence and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security have accused "Russia's senior-most officials" of hacking and leaking the emails to influence the 2016 election.
The memo noted that the Clinton campaign had "reached a working arrangement" with the DNC, but convoluted communications had prevented concrete measures from being implemented.
"Our dealings with Party leadership have been marked by challenges, often requiring multiple meetings and phone calls to resolve relatively simple matters," the memo said. "We are frequently caught in the middle of poor communication and a difficult relationship between the Chairwoman and the Executive Director."
The Clinton campaign floated three options to push Wasserman Schultz aside. One scenario involved the DNC hiring a chief of staff "to run the Committee" while the Florida congresswoman served in a "largely ceremonial" role. Another option would remove Wasserman Schultz from the committee altogether.
The Clinton campaign was ultimately spared from making a decision. Wasserman Schultz resigned as committee chair in July amid fallout from email leaks revealing the DNC had favored Clinton over challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) during the primary elections.