The
Florida congresswoman's resignation -- under pressure from top
Democrats -- comes amid the release of leaked emails showing DNC
staffers favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the party's
2016 primary contest.
Her
announcement that she was leaving had pro-Sanders supporters cheering
during a demonstration in Philadelphia and Donald Trump crowing, too.
In
her statement, Wasserman Schultz said that she remains committed to
seeing Clinton elected president. She talked with both President Barack
Obama and Clinton before making her announcement, a Democratic source
said.
"Going forward, the best way
for me to accomplish those goals is to step down as Party Chair at the
end of this convention," Wasserman Schultz said in the statement.
"As
Party Chair, this week I will open and close the Convention and I will
address our delegates about the stakes involved in this election not
only for Democrats, but for all Americans," she continued.
She
may briefly address the delegates on Monday for a few minutes, a
scenario to which the Clinton and Sanders campaigns have tentatively
agreed, sources said.
Wasserman
Schultz had faced intense pressure over the weekend to quit her post,
several Democratic leaders told CNN, urging her to quell a growing
controversy threatening to disrupt Clinton's nominating convention.
Sanders
issued a statement calling for a new direction for the party that would
welcome the working class and young voters -- and remain neutral in
future Democratic primary contests.
"Debbie Wasserman Schultz has made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party," Sanders said.
"While
she deserves thanks for her years of service, the party now needs new
leadership that will open the doors of the party and welcome in working
people and young people," he added. "The party leadership must also
always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process,
something which did not occur in the 2016 race."
DNC
Vice Chair Donna Brazile will serve as interim chair through the
election, it was announced Sunday. She is a CNN political commentator.
Separately,
a Democratic operative said Hispanic leaders close to Clinton and her
high command were discussing Housing Secretary Julian Castro as a
possible successor to Wasserman Schultz at the DNC helm.
Chants
of "Debbie is done!" and "Debbie resigned!" broke out at a pro-Sanders
rally in Philadelphia after the news was announced.
Party
officials decided Saturday that Wasserman Schultz would not have a
major speaking role or preside over daily convention proceedings this
week. The DNC Rules Committee has named Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, as
permanent chair of the convention, according to a DNC source. She will
gavel each session to order and will gavel each session closed.
"She's
been quarantined," another top Democrat said of Wasserman Schultz,
following a meeting Saturday night but before her announcement that she
was leaving.
Earlier Sunday, David
Axelrod, a former top adviser to Obama's presidential campaigns and a
CNN senior political commentator, said Wasserman Schultz should resign.
"I
would ask her to step aside. I would ask her to step aside because
she's a distraction in a week that is Hillary Clinton's week," Axelrod
told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."
After
she announced she was out, Axelrod tweeted, "I find this quibbling over
whether @DWStweets leaves now or Friday silly. What difference does it
make? She's out. She's leaving. Move on!"
Obama
issued a statement, saying, "For the last eight years, Chairwoman
Debbie Wasserman Schultz has had my back. This afternoon, I called her
to let her know that I am grateful."
And Clinton thanked Wasserman Schultz for her leadership of the party.
"I
am grateful to Debbie for getting the Democratic Party to this year's
historic convention in Philadelphia, and I know that this week's events
will be a success thanks to her hard work and leadership," Clinton said.
Trump
also weighed in, tweeting and misspelling Wasserman Schultz's name,
"Today proves what I have always known, that @Reince Priebus is the
tough one and the smart one, not Debbie Wasserman Shultz (@DWStweets.)"
Wasserman Schultz already had reluctantly agreed to relinquish her speaking role at the convention here.
Her
stewardship of the DNC has been under fire through most of the
presidential primary process, but her removal from the convention stage
comes following the release of nearly 20,000 emails.
One
email appears to show DNC staffers asking how they can reference
Sanders' faith to weaken him in the eyes of Southern voters. Another
seems to depict an attorney advising the committee on how to defend
Clinton against an accusation by the Sanders campaign of not living up
to a joint fundraising agreement.
Before
the announcement, Sanders on Sunday told Tapper the release of the DNC
emails that show its staffers working against him underscores the
position he's held for months: Wasserman Schultz needs to go.
"I
don't think she is qualified to be the chair of the DNC, not only for
these awful emails, which revealed the prejudice of the DNC, but also
because we need a party that reaches out to working people and young
people, and I don't think her leadership style is doing that," Sanders
told Tapper on "State of the Union," on the eve of the Democratic
National Convention in Philadelphia.
"I
am not an atheist," he said. "But aside from all of that, it is an
outrage and sad that you would have people in important positions in the
DNC trying to undermine my campaign. It goes without saying: The
function of the DNC is to represent all of the candidates -- to be fair
and even-minded."
He added: "But again, we discussed this many, many months ago, on this show, so what is revealed now is not a shock to me."
'It's gas meets flame'
The
publication of the emails comes just a weekend before the start of the
Democratic convention, where a major objective for Clinton will be to
unify the Democratic party by winning over Sanders' voters.
Several
Democratic sources told CNN that the leaked emails are a big source of
contention and may inflame tensions between the Clinton and Sanders
camps.
"It could threaten their
agreement," one Democrat said, referring to the deal reached between
Clinton and Sanders about the convention, delegates and the DNC. The
party had agreed to include more progressive principles in its official
platform and, as part of the agreement, Sanders dropped his fight to
contest Wasserman Schultz as the head of the DNC.
"It's gas meets flame," the Democrat said.
The
issue surfaced on Saturday at Clinton's first campaign event with Tim
Kaine as her running mate, when a protester was escorted out of Florida
International University in Miami. The protester shouted "DNC leaks"
soon after Clinton thanked Wasserman Schultz for her leadership at the
DNC.
The DNC has previously had its files hacked by an individual named "Guccifer 2.0" that may have had ties to the Russians.
Hackers
stole opposition research on Donald Trump from the DNC's servers in
mid-June. Two separate Russian intelligence-linked cyberattack groups
were both in the DNC's networks.
This story is being updated frequently with new developments and additional information.
CNN's
Dana Bash, Theodore Schleifer, Eugene Scott, Chris Frates, Elizabeth
Landers, Brianna Keilar, Dan Merica, Ziris Savage and Betsy Klein
contributed to this report.
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