A staffer for the Bernie Sanders' campaign was recently fired after being accused of hacking restricted data from the Clinton campaign. When the DNC blocked all access to Sanders' group, including to their own data, the campaign filed a lawsuit against the DNC for the "heavy-handed" reaction to the database breach.
The Sanders' campaign had its share of struggles in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Whether dealing with a lack of media coverage or Black Lives Matter activists at rallies, Sanders is facing an uphill battle in the quest for the presidency. The latest fight is with the DNC over access to voter data.
According to CNN, "The investigation into what information was lifted should only take a few days as there are audit logs and trails of the activity, which took place beginning around 10:40 a.m. and lasting for about 40 minutes, the senior Democrats said."
During that time, information on voters, specifically dealing with how they rated Clinton, was accessed. The value of this data would be to determine which people/groups Sanders should target. For instance, voters giving a high rating to Clinton aren't good targets, but those Democrats who dislike her may be prime candidates for Sanders' message.
In response to the DNC blocking the Sanders' campaign from all data, even their own within the system, "The Sanders campaign sought an injunction against the DNC Friday afternoon, claiming irreparable harm and seeking immediate access to the voter file system."
As Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager, said, "The DNC is clearly acting in a heavy-handed way, in an unprecedented way. I would like to see another instance where a presidential campaign had their data - their own data - withheld under similar circumstances."
Furthmore, "Weaver maintains that the software vulnerability has been ongoing for months, and Sanders' team saw their own info being hacked into, as well. He then says the DNC did not heed warnings and is to blame for not being 'competent' enough to properly separate campaigns within its database."
It will be interesting to see how the campaign unfolds after this latest setback. The block comes at a critical juncture as Sanders and Clinton are heading towards the Iowa caucus, a key to winning the nomination. Hopefully, the DNC is not being partisan as the Sanders' campaign has claimed, but rather is actually attempting to fix the errors in their system. It does seem a bit suspect, though.
So what do you think of the issue? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below?
