Perez: ‘We had to rebuild almost every facet’ of DNC

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez said in a new interview that he “had to rebuild almost every facet of the organization” after taking over as its head.

“I knew it was a turnaround job when I ran, but I undeniably underestimated the depth of the turnaround job. We had to rebuild almost every facet of the organization, and equally importantly, we had to rebuild trust,” Perez told Politico.

“Not just people who had invested in the DNC, but others, they just felt the party had let them down,” he added.

{mosads}Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who Perez appointed as deputy DNC chairman after defeating him to lead the organization, also told the news outlet that “functioning unity is something we’ve got to build back over time.”

The DNC drew intense scrutiny after former head Donna Brazile revealed details of a fundraising agreement between Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC that she said was proof the nominating process was rigged in Clinton’s favor.

“By September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart,” Brazile wrote in her book, referring to Clinton’s challenger in the 2016 Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“The funding arrangement … was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical,” she also wrote.

Perez promised to make Democrats’ nominating process more transparent in 2020 after Brazile’s revelations.