Speaking Of Emails...

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:51 am

Man, talk about bad timing...

Leaked Emails Suggest DNC Was Conspiring Against Bernie Sanders

A new leak of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee appears to support the long-held suspicions of some Bernie Sanders supporters that the DNC was working against him.

WikiLeaks released the 19,252 emails Friday that came from “seven key figures” in the DNC, including communications director Luis Miranda and national finance director Jordon Kaplan.

One email from May shows chief financial officer Brad Marshall suggesting that they use religion against a certain possible atheist with a Jewish heritage:

From:MARSHALL@dnc.org To: MirandaL@dnc.org, PaustenbachM@dnc.org, DaceyA@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-05 03:31 Subject: No shit

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.
Another email shows national press secretary Mark Paustenpach suggesting an anti-Bernie “narrative” for a story.

“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,” Paustenpach wrote in a May email to Luis Miranda. He lists several examples of such “messiness” and concludes by saying, “It’s not a DNC conspiracy, it’s because they never had their act together.”[so he was attempting to conspire to discredit the idea of a conspiracy]

Hillary Clinton’s campaign issued a statement Saturday evening downplaying the concerns the emails raise and shifting blame to the Russian government.

[Oh brother... the fact that apparently these Wikileakers were Russian hackers, and the connections between Manafort and Putin, and the likelihood that Putin would want Trump to win is an interesting and valid topic to discuss, BUT, the hackers didn't manufacture these emails...]

While the WikiLeaks database is searchable, Heavy.com has compiled a comprehensive list of some other intriguing emails about the DNC’s treatment of Sanders, including committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz writing that it’s “silly” to speculate about Sanders ever being president and Kaplan referring to him as obnoxious.

In an ironic twist, one leaked email reveals deputy communications director Eric Walker mocking BuzzFeed for writing that the DNC had bad cybersecurity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wik ... 5d5ed1d157

DNC chair won't speak at Dem convention following Wikileaks fallout

(CNN)The head of the Democratic National Committee will not speak at the party's convention next week, a decision reached by party officials Saturday after emails surfaced that raised questions about the committee's impartiality during the Democratic primary.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose stewardship of the DNC has been under fire through most of the presidential primary process, will not have a major speaking role in an effort "to keep the peace" in the party, a Democrat familiar with the decision said. The revelation comes following the release of nearly 20,000 emails

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/22/politics/ ... ks-emails/

First of all, none of this comes as any surprise to me, nor should it come as a surprise to anyone who has followed this process; it's been glaringly obvious that the DNC was in the tank for Hillary since before day one of this campaign....

However, these revelations are going to be very poorly received by the Sanders delegates now descending on Philadelphia, and by many Sanders supporters in general...These aren't emails from underlings; these are from the top ranking leadership of the DNC, including the Chairman....

I don't think the damage is irreparable (since there's no indication that Clinton was somehow directing the DNC in any of this) but there's going to need to be some damage control and a scapegoat sacrificed...

Despite the fact that I have utter contempt for Pinocchio-Shultz, and consider her to be in the same category as Senator Slime on the Sleaze-O-Meter, I've actually been opposed to Team Clinton shit canning her as many of the Sandersists have long been demanding...

Afterall, they won, and Sanders lost, and they'd already folded like a cheap lawn chair to nearly all of his demands on the platform...

I felt that the Clintonistas needed to show some backbone, and not fire the DNC chair who had been so staunchly loyal to them, and make the point about who is in charge...

However, in light of these public revelations, I don't see how they avoid it...they need to do something significant to calm the roiling waters. Not making a convention speech, (which would undoubtedly have been greeted with a huge chorus of boos from the nearly 2000 Sanders delegates in attendance) isn't going to be enough...

And Pinocchio-Schultz is certainly a saavy enough political operator to realize that she has to go...

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 1:26 pm

Debbie is on her way out.

It's no excuse, but as I've said before, Bernie *isn't* a Democrat and simply used the party to advance his own interests and agenda. He has also demonstrated that he didn't really want to play by the rules. So, why isn't what is good for the gander good for the goose? And what did he expect, really?

ETA:If one wants to change the rules, do it after the election, not mid-campaign when one discovers they are not to their liking.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 1:55 pm

I absolutely agree with you about Sanders and his conduct, but also as you say, that's no excuse for this...

Marshall and Paustenpach should be out today, fired if they don't resign... (Especially Marshall...The CFO of the DNC trying hatch a plot to smear Sanders on his religion? That is way beyond completely unacceptable..)

And Deb really needs to go too...

She was planning to step down after the election anyway, she really should move that up a few months...like to today...

If she doesn't go, this is going to be an ongoing controversy that will be a damaging distraction for the whole convention week from the narrative the Dems want to present ...

And it will also serve to harden the resentments and unhappiness of the Sanders supporters (justified or not) at the very time that Team Clinton needs to be bringing them into the fold...

Sue U · Post by **Sue U** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 2:21 pm

I don't see the DNC's internal maneuvering with respect to Sanders as significantly different than the RNC's attempts to stop Trump. I guess the lesson is we expect better of the Democrats?

And as you well know, I am a Bernie supporter, but in November I will vote as hard as I can for Hillary -- as will every other Bernie-bot I know.

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 2:29 pm

Sue U wrote:I don't see the DNC's internal maneuvering with respect to Sanders as significantly different than the RNC's attempts to stop Trump. I guess the lesson is we expect better of the Democrats?

And as you well know, I am a Bernie supporter, but in November I will vote as hard as I can for Hillary -- as will every other Bernie-bot I know.

Yup, that was the point of my ETA.

We also expect better of HRC and female candidates in general. See e.g., "gander/goose" reference, supra.

And thank you -- EVERY Bernie-bot I know is doing the same (even my Swede, despite the fact that he won't admit it yet). It's only the nameless/faceless FB trolls that are mostly still hanging around and complaining.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 2:35 pm

I guess the lesson is we expect better of the Democrats?

No, the lesson here is that when this kind of stuff becomes public in the form of undeniable unspinnable emails from the top party leadership, heads have roll...

You better believe that if any comparable communications from Rance Priebus or other high ranking party officials had become public, they'd have all have been out on their asses before the sun set that day...

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:25 pm

The other lesson that should be taken is that Bernie is not Trump; most repubs (other than Trump supporters) would not be enraged at an RNC effort to stop Trump, but I do think most dems find these back door machinations unacceptable when it comes to Bernie. Like him or hate him, I do not think many see him as the danger Trump is; indeed, if Bernie had won, I doubt we'd be seeing large numbers of nationally prominent dems choosing not to support him. I'm not surprised at these leaks, but I do think it shows why party politics is not held in particularly high esteem. I'll vote for Hillary, maybe even campaign for her, but the democratic party won't get one cent out of me.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:56 pm

Pressure mounts on Wasserman Schultz to resign

(CNN)Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz faced intense pressure Sunday to resign her post and was meeting with party honchos about her future, several Democratic leaders told CNN, urging her to quell a growing controversy threatening to disrupt Hillary Clinton's nominating convention.

A Hillary Clinton source expects Wasserman Schultz to be gone by the end of the day, while another Democratic source said President Barack Obama or a proxy for him may need to get involved and call Wasserman Schultz because her posture is that she was appointed by the president.

Wasserman Schultz is holding on, believing "she can weather this," a source told CNN

Short of her resigning, both critics and supporters within the DNC are demanding she issue a statement to deal with the many issues raised by the release of a trove of DNC emails by Wikileaks that appeared to show the party favoring Clinton over Bernie Sanders during the primary process.

In a meeting Sunday that was described as at times contentious, Wasserman Schultz said she wanted the statement issued in the name of Amy Dacey, the DNC's CEO.

"We said no," said a veteran party activist involved in the discussions. "She needs to own this."
Separately, a Democratic operative said Hispanic leaders close to Clinton and her high command were discussing Housing Secretary Julian Castro as a possible successor to Wasserman Schultz at the DNC helm.

Party officials decided Saturday that Wasserman Schultz will not have a major speaking role or preside over daily convention proceedings this week.

The DNC Rules Committee has named Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, as permanent chair of the convention, according to a DNC source. She will gavel each session to order and will gavel each session closed.

"She's been quarantined," another top Democrat said of Wasserman Schultz, following a meeting Saturday night.
David Axelrod, a former top adviser to Obama's presidential campaigns and a CNN senior political commentator, said Wasserman Schultz should resign.

"I would ask her to step aside. I would ask her to step aside because she's a distraction in a week that is Hillary Clinton's week," Axelrod told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

One close Clinton ally said the hope is that Wasserman Schultz would get the message and leave her position before the convention kicks off Monday. "But she is stubborn," the Clinton ally said.

Wasserman Schultz reluctantly agreed to relinquish her speaking role at the convention here, a sign of her politically fragile standing. But party leaders are now urging the Florida congresswoman to vacate her position as head of the party entirely in the wake of leaked emails suggesting the DNC favored Clinton during the primary and tried to take down Sanders by questioning his religion.

Democratic leaders are scrambling to keep the party united, but two officials familiar with the discussions said Wasserman Schultz was digging in and not eager to vacate her post until after the November elections.

"She seems oblivious to the volcano that will erupt if she walked into that [convention] hall," said a veteran Democratic operative, who added that as of Sunday morning, Wasserman Schultz believed the uproar would pass. "Forty percent of the people in that hall didn't like her to begin with. She was going to get booed before all this."

While Wasserman Shultz may be in danger of losing her job soon, she originally had no plans to seek re-election to her post as party leader when her term ends in January 2017.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/22/politics/ ... ks-emails/

ETA:

Now MSNBC is reporting that Pinocchio-Schultz has agreed to resign as of the end of this convention...

I don't see the need for the delay...

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 8:26 pm

As for "Debby Downer" Schultz. She's as deluded as many of her Repug counterparts. I say bring back Ed Rendell.

Unfortunately, Drumpf is going to make political hay over her being banned by the DNC from any further involvement with the loosely organized organization.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 9:06 pm

Yeah, he's going to make hay, and he's going to try and use the emails to attract Sanders supporters...

But with Schultz (and presumably the CFO and any other high ranking DNC official implicated in this) gone, the Dems will be able to pivot the focus of this story on to the Russian attempt to meddle in the US political process in order to benefit Donald Trump...(they couldn't do that so long as they weren't dealing with the implications of the substance of the emails by getting rid of those involved.)

And maybe some of the stuff about the Trump/Russian connection that I posted in the other thread, that the WP has done such a good job of unearthing, will start to make it's way into broader news coverage ...

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 9:39 pm

Apparently Donna Brazile will be taking over from Schultz....

I've seen Brazile a lot on CNN over the past few years, and while definitely a partisan, she seems like a pretty level headed person...

Also very good-natured...(which is a real contrast to the humorless and strident Pinocchio-Schultz...)

She's been a DNC Vice Chairman, so she knows the players, and probably has the sort of calming presence that you're going to want in a person to preside over the party apparatus after this kind of shake-up at the top, (I'm sure Deb isn't going to be the only one out...)particularly with the need to focus on a looming national election...

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:11 am

I'm far more worried about Vladimir Putin trying to help elect Trump than I am about Debbie Wasserman Schultz wanting to help elect Hillary.

-"BB"-

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:31 pm

I just saw Deb appear before a breakfast for the Florida delegation...

Based on the reception she got, Team Clinton may want to re-think the wisdom of having her go out this afternoon to open the convention...

Pinocchio-Schultz should re-think it too...

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:18 pm

The media contact for Trump was on CNN discussing this topic about an hour ago. Among other things he said 'we ought to be having a conversation about what does Russia know from Hillary's private email server.'

Yes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It is very hard to prove a negative. But so far, there is no evidence that the private server used by Hillory was hacked by anyone, foreign or domestic. It is not knee-jerk conspiracy theory to think that if it had been hacked, such would have been leaked to add to the stuff investigated by the FBI. I cannot believe the FBI report with its conclusion for no prosecution, would have been the same if they had even the slightest hint that the server had been hacked. Look how this DNC hack was released for political impact.

and on another note. I understand how the DNC would be biased against Sanders. His wikipedia page says he has been running for some political office since the mid-1970's. Before the Democratic primaries this presidential cycle, he has NEVER been on a ballot as a Democrat.

snailgate

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:10 pm

Not my language, I cribbed it from a FB post but it's right on:

Did it occur to anyone that Sanders and Jeff Weaver waged war on the DNC, the party of convenience for Sander's run, from day one? Although the debate schedule was already set, long before he was a contender, and the delegate system had been in place for decades, they acted as if and communicated publicly that it was a rigged system directed at them. They publicly denigrated the individual state parties that required people to change their registration to Dem to vote Dem.because it was "too hard" on Independents. The fact is, the Democratic Party was created for Democrats and that just annoyed the hell out of the Sanders campaign. Wasserman's was right, they DIDN'T know or respect the rules. I personally think the DNC was pretty restrained in their response to the many attacks they endured from the Sanders team and supporters. Either the Sanders people were willfully ignorant when they claimed that voting irregularities were orchestrated by the DNC in Maricopa County, AZ, or they were cynically playing to the lack of knowledge of their base, many of whom were young and had never voted or followed politics enough to know the truth. If Bernie is not satisfied now, with the many platform concessions he has received, too bad. He.played dirty too and all the whining and outrage is just more theatre for a group that. like Trump, seems to want drama, power and attention more than meaningful solutions for real people's problems.

And again, HRC is held to a higher standard.

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:27 pm

Guinevere wrote:Debbie is on her way out.

It's no excuse, but as I've said before, Bernie *isn't* a Democrat and simply used the party to advance his own interests and agenda. He has also demonstrated that he didn't really want to play by the rules. So, why isn't what is good for the gander good for the goose? And what did he expect, really?

ETA:If one wants to change the rules, do it after the election, not mid-campaign when one discovers they are not to their liking.

True

Yes,
Rubato

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:27 pm

I saw another similar commentary somewhere, if I find it again I will link to it, basically it went through all of the supposedly conspiratorial emails, and with the exception of Marshall's completely batshit one about Sanders's religious beliefs (NEVER acted on), the rest were reactions to attacks or other ridiculous crap from the Sanders camp.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:34 pm

MSNBC just reported that "talks are underway" to not have Pinocchio-Schultz open the convention today...

After what I saw this morning, that sure looks like the right move...

Unless the Dems want to open their convention with a round of thunderous and sustained booing...

Not exactly the ideal visual for kicking things off...

Longtime Democratic strategist Bob Shrum said a little while ago that Deb should "Get on the next plane back to Florida, and concentrate on her re-election"...

Sounds like good advice to me...

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:38 pm

"Team Clinton"

It's like "Obamacare"

The more they win, the better it sounds.

The Fool Republicans have already cemented credit for the most important improvement in HC since Medicaid/Medicare to the Obama and Democratic Legacies and now they think the term "Team Clinton " will sound like opprobrium?

We're Americans, were big on teams, working as a team, giving credit to your teammates, shared effort and pain for shared victory. We celebrate team sports, we work in teams, we have research teams.

"Team Clinton" would be a popular t-shirt design.

Yes,
Rubato

Long Run · Post by **Long Run** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:43 pm

I have no idea what the substance of the emails includes, but the story today is all about the emails and replacing the head of the DNC at the last minute, etc. And not the script that the D's and Clinton want to portray. This election just keeps getting more and more unique.

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