On Friday, the Sanders campaign formerly sued the Democratic National Committee after they restricted access to important voter data for the Senator’s camp. “This was not an inadvertent glimpse into our data”, said Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook.
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It’s the Saturday before Christmas and you know what you want to do – watch the three Democratic presidential candidates debate foreign policy and the economy. The Sanders campaign had previously suggested that the DNC’s actions were part of a pattern demonstrating their support for Clinton.
” … In the heat of these campaigns, young people make misjudgments”, says Jeff Weaver, Sanders Campaign Manager. “This was an egregious breach”.
“Clearly, they were very concerned about their prospects in court”, Weaver said. The ensuing fallout, unfolding over a tumultuous 24 hours on Friday, included a complete cutoff of voter data to Sanders’ campaign, a federal lawsuit, and accusations of potential illegal activity – all before it was quickly resolved late last night.
Weaver promised that if DNC officials did not quickly restore the campaign’s access to the information, and “continued to try to attack the heart and soul of our campaign, we will be in federal court this afternoon seeking an immediate injunction”.
In its statement, the Sanders campaign claimed the DNC had “capitulated” and committed an “about face” on a punishment that the Sanders team characterized as far over-reaching.
In response to the harsh rebuke, the Sanders campaign charged Friday morning that the DNC was “actively attempting to undermine our campaign” in favor of Clinton.
“That is the only way that we can make sure that we can protect our significant asset that is the voter file and its integrity”, Wasserman Schultz said on CNN. “We trust they have nothing to hide”, Weaver added.
The DNC maintains the master list. There are technological safeguards to prevent this as well.
The decision, announced just after midnight Saturday, capped off a chaotic day in which the DNC blocked the Sanders campaign from accessing the national database, which plays a critical role in campaigns’ strategies and daily operations.
The suit argues that the party is denying the campaign access to its voter data in violation of a contract governing the use of the information.
For 40 minutes, the staffers combed through the files 25 times looking up voter names, addresses, and voting habits with information on crucial states like Iowa, New Hampshire and SC.
The DNC keeps the charges and database efforts for accessibility.
At least one senior Sanders staffer has been let go since the breach was discovered.
“We were assured that this was going to be taken care of”, he said. Clinton aides believe that reminding Democrats of whom they may be up against in November helps motivate her voters while underscoring their argument that Clinton would be the most electable choice against the Republican nominee. The vendor, NGP VAN, has a major office in Somerville’s Davis Square, where most of its engineering work is done.
“It was a temporary glitch through a software patch that opened this window”.
While Clinton’s campaign launched to a shaky start following revelations about her private email use at the State Department, she rebounded in the fall and now has a commanding lead of 20 points or more in most national polls. “He was stunned”, she said. In addition, the Huffington Post reports that the Sanders campaign will not be dropping its lawsuit and still seeks an independent audit of the DNC’s data practices and their vendor, NGP VAN.
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The DNC previously cut off the campaign’s access to the database, saying it inappropriately accessed Hillary Clinton’s campaign data during a security failure in the database software, which the Sanders campaign somewhat admitted to. Despite their perceived impropriety, the Sanders campaign also appears to be relishing the opportunity to highlight their underdog status against the Democratic Party establishment. And Democrats note the entire matter is complicated and highly technical, and might not translate well to the debate stage.
