This evening, Politico reported CFO Brad Marshall “has apologized after suggesting that the organization use Bernie Sanders’ religious beliefs against him in the Democratic primary.”
The apology appeared in a Facebook post. A source who was able to read the post provided Politico following verbiage:
“I deeply regret that my insensitive, emotional emails would cause embarrassment to the DNC, the Chairwoman, and all of the staffers who worked hard to make the primary a fair and open process. The comments expressed do not reflect my beliefs nor do they reflect the beliefs of the DNC and its employees. I apologize to those I offended.”
I’m not certain if the latter was in response to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver’s call for accountability in an interview with ABC News earlier today. In that interview, Weaver said he was concerned that the news (via Wikileaks) could potentially “disrupt the goals of the convention.”
From ABC News:
"We are trying to build unity for the fall to beat Donald Trump and Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a figure of disunity in the party, not a figure of unity," Weaver added. Weaver and the DNC chairwoman have tangled often during this campaign cycle. Asked specifically whether she should resign, Weaver responded, "She should consider what her options are."
Politico is reporting on twitter that Vice-Chair Donna Brazile met with the Sanders Campaign in Philly to apologize for the DNCLeaks situation. From various outlets, such as Telesurf, that have combed through these new leaks, reported that:
Donna Brazille, DNC vice chair for civic engagement and voter participation, answered, “How stupid. Don't know how to respond to Bernie anymore.” She also called an initiative in Maine to eliminate superdelegates “another lunacy.”
Sanders supporters did not hold their dismay at the Rule Committee meeting when the Committee voted down not having superdelegates in future elections.
National Democrats tried to smooth over the bitterness. DNC vice chairwoman Donna Brazile had dropped in on the meeting of Sanders-aligned Rules Committee members and apologized for how the emails came out.
"She got applause from all of the Bernie rules committee delegates," said Rules Committee member Anthony Iarrapino, who supports Sanders.
I would add that I got these reports from Wikileaks’ Twitter feed and from Sanders supporters on Facebook.
Wikileaks has its faults (especially for publishing personal data), but it appears the campaigns are taking the information with some seriousness. Freedom of information, as FP DK diarist Mark Andersen pointed out today, “free speech is not without consequences. The government cannot censor you, but the public and public entities can and will make sure you know of their displeasure.”
As noted, DWS, with the blessing of both Clinton and Sanders’ campaigns, has been yanked as a speaker at the Convention this week.
These moves by the DNC are critical for ensuring unity at the convention and beyond. I applaud all diarists (both Sanders and Clinton supporters) whom criticized the DNC staff about the nature of the e-mails concerning Sanders’ faith, and to keep the pressure on the DNC.
Bernie will be appearing on most of the Sunday shows, so I expect more remarks then.
Note: this appeared under a different title, it has been changed to complement Slinkerwink’s diary about DWS being yanked as speaker at the Convention.