Four Questions Bernie Sanders Needs to Answer
We’re glad that the Sanders campaign and DNC reached an agreement last night and that the Sanders campaign has agreed to an independent audit of the data breach.
This saga - and having our campaign’s hard work violated by the Sanders’ campaign - has been disturbing to our campaign and the volunteers who worked hard to build a strong organization. But it has also been a distraction from the issues that the American people care about. We think those issues should be the focus of the debate tonight: issues like raising wages, access to healthcare, and keeping America safe. However, given news that Senator Sanders and his team apparently want to make this topic the centerpiece of their debate strategy, here are some questions that should be on the table.
1: Why'd your campaign say you didn't store anything?
The Sanders campaign was able to access (and save) 24 different lists of proprietary Clinton campaign information, as seen in their NGPVAN activity logs. Here, for example, is a Sanders staffer searching for and saving a list of voters that the Clinton campaign identified as persuadable in Iowa.
Clik here to view.
Let’s be clear about how the VAN system works: when you look at the log, “saving” means an attempt to store the data to your own account–and there are reports that there were preliminary attempts to export the data into excel sheets. They knew what they were doing. Which brings me to my next point.
2: Why'd your campaign claim it was an accident?
In an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, Tad Devine claimed this was all a “mistake.” A mistake?
NGPVAN’s audit found that Sanders staffers conducted 25 targeted searches of Clinton campaign data, just like the example above. Let me reiterate what this being a “mistake” would mean. Take a look at this pull out from the audit activity logs.
Clik here to view.
For this to be a “mistake,” the Sanders campaign would have had to accidentally…
- Searched for the voters we've identified as being unlikely to support Hillary Clinton in the South Carolina primary
- Saved that list into their own account folder
- Searched for the voters we've identified as supporters who are very likely to turn out to vote in the South Carolina primary
- Saved that list into their own account folder
- Searched for the voters we've identified as supporters who are unlikely to turn out to vote in the South Carolina primary
This is just a sample. They pulled 21 more lists. That seems hardly accidental to me.
3: Why did the Sanders campaign claim that only one staffer was involved in accessing Clinton campaign data?
Contrary to their claims, there were four staffers involved. In fact, from the audit logs provided by NGPVAN, the staffer they fired wasn’t even the person involved in accessing the most data.
4. Why did your campaign claim that the "one staffer" was junior level?
In initial reports, the Sanders campaign claimed that the “single staffer” involved in accessing Clinton campaign data was at the junior level. Tad Devine even went so far as to say that he’d never met the guy.
Josh Uretsky, the staffer who was fired, was the campaign’s most senior data strategist.
From his Linkedin page:
Clik here to view.
Our data director is involved in our strategic, day-to-day decision making. That’s a pretty broad interpretation of junior.
In conclusion...
To most voters, this will all seem pretty arcane. They care about raising wages for their family. They care about security for their family. They care about who’s going to keep them safe. They certainly don’t spend much time thinking about campaign data theft.
With that said, if Senator Sanders intends to make his campaign’s theft of our data a rallying point, he should have to answer these questions. His campaign took advantage of a security flaw to access and retain proprietary Clinton campaign information. We don’t know if they still have it. Those are all facts. No amount of misdirection changes those facts.
We look forward to tonight’s debate.
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I agree with this 100%. Answer the 4 questions now.
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It appears Bernie is trying to sabotage a party he has always hated by filing a lawsuit to further manipulate his voters against Clinton. He’s even fundraising off attacking Hillary’s integrity, saying she’s directly involved in a conspiracy theory with the DNC. I thought Bernie promised to run a different kind of campaign? Playing the victim when you are the perpetrator is not a different kind of campaign.
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PS:
~Bernie only performs better because the GOP machine hasn't attacked him for the last 20 years. Hillary has taken the GOP head-on at a national level and remains strong. Bernie would have been slaughtered long ago. Currently, the GOP is propping up Bernie to hurt Hillary in the general and sew discord and unrest among the left. Here is how Bernie supporters could give the election to Trump: Bernie hasn't had the GOP machine against him for 20 years. Hillary has proven she can take them on and still stand strong. 37 state's are GOP-controlled. The Clintons have deep roots in the South. Fear Trump? Well, Hillary is your girl. Don't pull a Nader and screw us again!! Abstaining is the same as voting 3rd party.
~Bernie opposed DOMA on the grounds of state’s rights only and finally supported gay marriage in 2009. On the contrary, Hillary worked with the Human Rights Campaign as New York Senator and knows the HRC President from back during her days in Arkansas. Hillary was the first First Lady to march in a gay pride parade and she implemented policies and programs as Secretary of State that saved LGBTQ lives worldwide. Bernie is a fraud when it comes to LGBTQ rights and is smearing Hillary’s great work on behalf of the gay community. True gay activists are rather outraged over this.
~Bernie voted against the Brady bill 5 times and gave the gun industry immunity (only industry in America that is immune to accountability). 90+ die a day and 30,000 die a year from gun violence. Shame on you, Bernie. Thankfully, President Bill Clinton was able to pass the Brady bill without Bernie's support and protect our nation from gun violence.
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Takes $$$ to beat $$$. Wall Street knows everyone does better under a Clinton. Incomes rose at all levels in the 1990s. Hillary was also Senator of New York. But her and Bill paid a 35.7% tax rate -- 40 million in total taxes in the last 7 years. Why wouldn't they hold Wall Street to the same standard as they hold themselves to!?!? Again: the Clintons paid a 35.7% tax rate [40 million in total taxes] over the last 7 years. They built their success from the ground up, dating back to their days together at Yale Law School. Both Clintons embody the American dream of using their own talents to achieve success -- but they both have never forgotten their roots and they both pay their fair share to a country that has given them so much. I have no doubt, that as their final stand against everything that has been leveled at them since the early 1990s, they will finally dismantle the GOP if let back in the White House.
Hillary also helped create and pass the children's health insurance program, giving 8 million children health insurance. Hillary also fought for unions and a higher minimum wage as New York Senator [despite corporate contributions]. Hillary is smart enough to know it takes $$$ to beat $$$, though she and Bill have never forgotten their middle-class roots. Hillary and Bernie voted together in the Senate 93% of the time. Bernie has no significant accomplishments.
Hillary has always stood with women, the middle-class, children, the under-privileged -- the invisible. Stop the character assassination against Hillary. Haters have been hating since the 1990s. She is ready. The Clintons were a net-positive for Americans.
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