But why did the DNC sign on to the deal in the first place? Brazile says Obama left the party hurting for funds, and Clinton's campaign "resolved the party’s debt and put it on a starvation diet." So it looks like the DNC was broke and lashed themselves to Clinton to remain solvent. (Fun fact: the DNC is still broke and struggling to raise money.) It's hard to square the claim "the DNC is and was in shambles" with "but their messaging was so powerful they managed to rig the primary election in Clinton's favor."

Nowhere in the piece does Brazile mention that Politico reported the fundraising agreement between the DNC and Hillary when it happened, nor does she mention that the Sanders campaign also signed a joint fundraising agreement with the DNC. Bernie could have raised more money through that agreement, which would have helped the DNC financially and also arguably helped down-ballot Democrats, but he chose to raise money through small donations.

[...]

At the time supporters of Hillary Clinton brushed off this evidence of the DNC's bias toward Clinton. Sanders wasn't a Democrat, after all, and anyway he could never beat Trump. When Clinton comfortably won the primary, her supporters pointed to the win as proof of her rightful dominance among Democrats, mostly because it was. Democrats clearly preferred Hillary Clinton. Some still do. It makes sense that she would work more closely with the DNC and thus reap the benefits of working closely with the DNC. It also makes sense that Bernie would distance himself from the DNC, and then slam Hillary for being close to the DNC and their corporate donors, which is exactly what he did.

Brazile's confessions in this Politico story provide more detail on previously reported financial agreements between the DNC and the Clinton campaign, but mostly they tell us that Brazile is promoting a book called Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House. And good for her. We're all just trying to survive the end times. But allegations that Brazile is providing definitive proof that Clinton "rigged" the primary in her favor are overblown.

Meanwhile, Bernie appears to be considering a run in 2020.

The only thing that didn't die in 2016 was 2016.

So Brazile herself, though she obviously disapproves of the JFA, says the primaries weren’t rigged and there was no internal corruption at the DNC that favored Clinton. In something that suprises me not at all, it appears that even though Clinton had substantial authority and could have rigged things, she instead used this authority to raise lots of money; make sure the DNC hired competent people; and try to get the party apparatus working again.