At that late hour, the Washington Post reported that the Democratic National Committee had barred the Sanders campaign from accessing its database of likely Democratic voters, after a Sanders’ staffer viewed confidential voter information assembled by the Hillary Clinton campaign.
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According to the DNC, the Sanders campaign will remain suspended until it provides the DNC with a full explanation of the episode and provides proof that any improperly accessed data has been discarded.
The Democratic National Committee has barred Bernie Sander’s presidential campaign from accessing its voter database in a move that some are saying is an attempt at sabotage.
As the candidates continue their Pursuit of the Presidency, the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have changed the tone on the campaign trail.
Nonetheless, the DNC has restricted the campaign from being able to access the data at all.
Trevelyan, whose company is the dominant provider of software and data for Democratic political campaigns and United States progressive causes, added: “We are conducting a full audit to ensure the integrity of the system and security of the data, and reporting on the findings to the DNC”.
During a software update on Wednesday, members of staff at the Sanders campaign were inadvertently granted access to the private data stores of the Clinton campaign.
Bloomberg adds that Briggs said, without naming names, that the staffers was “immediately fired”.
The DNC maintains an extensive list of voter information and rents it out to campaigns, which update it with their own data. Campaign officials acknowledged the bad judgment call, but they also laid blame on the firm that manages the giant voter file for the party, NGP VAN. “That behavior is unacceptable and that staffer was immediately fired”. The involvement from the DNC to limit the Sanders campaign’s access to key demographic information may hinder its ability to effectively prepare for the Iowa caucus on February 1.
During that time period, proprietary information was then open to other campaigns.
The suspension comes as Sanders prepares to face Clinton at the Democratic debate Saturday and as he received the endorsement of a major union, the Communications Workers of America, and a liberal group Thursday.
Firewalls are put in place to prevent campaigns from looking at data maintained by their rivals.
But the question remains, why hasn’t Clinton already gained the traction that many expected her to?
The DNC said that they are in contact with NGP VAN to make sure another breach doesn’t happen again.
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Clinton’s campaign declined comment on the incident.
