Ex-Clinton Campaign Chief: I Was 'Overruled' When Trying to Fire Advisor Accused of Harassment

Lauretta Brown | January 29, 2018 1:15 PM

Patti Solis Doyle, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign manager, spoke to CNN Monday about the recent report that Clinton shielded senior advisor Burns Strider following accusations of sexual harassment by a female coworker. Solis Doyle said she recommended that Clinton fire Burns Strider but “was overruled.”

She said after looking at the evidence she “came to the conclusion that there was sexual harassment involved, that the young woman was very credible, and my recommendation to the Senator was to fire him and I was overruled.”

CNN’s Brianna Keilar asked, “She (Clinton) overruled you personally?”

“I was overruled, yes,” Solis Doyle responded.

Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager on Clinton's decision to not fire a senior adviser accused of sexual harassment: "There was sexual harassment involved... My recommendation to the Senator [Clinton] was to fire him, and I was overruled." https://t.co/zo5oEPemsM pic.twitter.com/jbIKqXKzUp
— CNN (@CNN) January 29, 2018

Keilar also brought up Hillary Clinton’s tweets responding to the matter and said, “She doesn’t admit she messed up… Why doesn’t she just look back and say ‘this was the wrong call’?”

“I don’t know,” Solis Doyle said, adding, “I was disappointed by that tweet, that response. It was the wrong call. I wish she had said it was the wrong call.”

Clinton tweeted that she “was dismayed when it occurred, but was heartened the young woman came forward, was heard, and had her concerns taken seriously and addressed.” She did not address her decision not to fire Burns Strider.

"It wasn't an easy call. None of these calls are easy," Solis Doyle emphasized. "And especially in a presidential campaign, we were just a few months away from voting, beginning to start with the caucuses and the primaries, firing a high-profile person on the campaign would have certainly made news and caused a distraction, so it wasn't an easy call."