WikiLeaks reveals secret Democratic plot against Sanders
The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has uncovered a secret plot by top leaders at the US Democratic National Committee (DNC) to undermine Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ bid to win the party’s 2016 presidential nomination.
More than 19,000 emails leaked by the website on Friday gave more weight to the Sanders campaign’s claims against the DNC and Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, accusing them of siding with the senator’s rival, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
The emails show how some DNC officials tried to deal with the Vermont senator’s popularity, which posed a direct challenge to Clinton.
In one of the emails, DNC Deputy Communications Director Eric Walker discussed Sanders’ popularity in states like Rhode Island with several other staffers.
“If she outperforms this polling, the Bernie camp will go nuts and allege misconduct. They’ll probably complain regardless, actually,” Walker wrote.
An email from May 21 shows DNC press secretary Mark Paustenbach and communications director Luis Miranda talking about misleading the media into thinking that Sanders’ “campaign was a mess.”
“Wondering if there’s a good Bernie narrative for a story, which is that Bernie never ever had his act together, that his campaign was a mess,” wrote Paustenbach.
In another case, DNC CFO Brad Marshall appeared to be questioning Sanders’ faith, a factor that he said would affect primary voters in Kentucky and West Virginia at the time.
“It might make no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist,” the email from early May says.
Wasserman Schultz said in May that Sanders “is not going to be president.” She also said in April that the veteran senator “has no understanding of” the Democratic Party.
A number of leaked DNC internal memos dating back to March had already shown DNC staff strategizing to make Clinton the presidential nominee.
The new leaks are expected to overshadow the upcoming DNC gathering in Philadelphia, where Clinton is expected to become the official nominee for the party.
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