Hacked emails reveal DNC’s bias against Bernie Sanders

By Christian Kaiser, Georgia State University Freelance Writer

WASHINGTON- Over 19,000 emails from Democratic Party officials were leaked ahead of the DNC in Philadelphia that show the party’s leadership was biased against Senator Sanders during the primaries this year.

The emails were leaked by the anti-secrecy news organization WikiLeaks, [according to the New York Times], and specifically came “seven key figures in the DNC.” The page on WikiLeaks’ website also warned that the release was “part one of our new Hillary Leaks series,” suggesting that the site may release more emails and material soon.

The emails released span form [January of 2015 until May 25, 2016,] according to WikiLeaks. The seven Democratic Party officials implicated in the leaks include Communications Director Luis Miranda, National Finance Director Jordon Kaplan, Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer, Finance Director of Data & Strategic Initiatives Daniel Parrish, Finance Director Allen Zachary, Senior Advisor Andrew Wright and Northern California Finance Director Robert Stowe.

The most damaging emails in the leak directly contradict the Democratic National Committee’s stated neutrality in the primary race. Emails from late in the primaries show that members of the committee actively attempted to undermine the Sanders campaign.

The Washington Post reports that emails from [May 5] showed Democratic Party leaders attempting to make Bernie Sanders’ religious faith a larger issue in the campaign in order to damage his image with religious voters in West Virginia and Kentucky.

In one email that was sent by DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall to DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda, Deputy Communications Director Mark Paustenbach and CEO Amy Lacey, Marshall implies that the issue of Sanders’ faith should be raised more, saying, “It might may 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.” CEO Amy Lacey replied a few hours later: “Amen.”

The Intercept quoted Brad Marshall’s response via email to the leak, “I do not recall this. I can say it would not have been Sanders. It would probably be about a surrogate.”

The emails also implicated now former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the DNC’s collusion against Sanders. The Washington Post reported that Wasserman Schultz resigned from her position as DNC chair on Sunday in the wake of the WikiLeaks release.

The Washington Post reports that one email from late April shows Wasserman Schultz questioning Sanders loyalty to the Democratic Party. In the email Wasserman Schultz is responding to a Politico story in which Sanders accused the party of being unfair to his campaign, saying “Spoken like someone who has never been a member of the Democratic Party and has no understanding of what we do.”

The Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver responded to the email leaks on Saturday saying that the emails show “what many of us have known for some time, that there were certainly people at the DNC who were actively helping the Clinton effort and trying to hurt Bernie Sanders’ campaign.”

Weaver also said the emails may make it harder to achieve party unity during the convention this week. Senator Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton earlier this month and appeared with her at a campaign event in Vermont. Many Sanders supporters were already skeptical of the Democratic Party’s attitude towards Sanders and his supporters during the primaries and these revelations may make it difficult for them to unify behind Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.