Data breach sets off charges of theft in '16 Democratic race

[rooster59]

Data breach sets off charges of theft in '16 Democratic race

KEN THOMAS, Associated Press
LISA LERER, Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic race for president unexpectedly exploded with rancor Friday as Hillary Clinton's campaign accused rival Bernie Sanders of stealing millions of dollars of information about potential voters.

Sanders' team, meanwhile, accused the Democratic Party of holding his White House bid hostage by temporarily barring it from accessing its own voter data. His campaign filed a lawsuit to get it back and aggressively tried to turn tshe allegations into a political advantage.

"This information is really key to our campaign and our strategy," said Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook. "We are particularly disturbed right now that they are using the fact that they stole data as a reason to raise money for their campaign."

The reaction to the data breach, the depth of which was debated by all involved, tore open an ugly fault line between two camps that had so far engaged in a relatively civil White House campaign.

On the eve of the party's next presidential debate, it also thrust into the open longstanding suspicions among Sanders and his supporters that the national party is unfairly working to support Clinton's candidacy.

"Clearly, in this case, they are trying to help the Clinton campaign," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said of the Democratic National Committee.

At issue is an extensive trove of voter information maintained by the DNC. The campaigns are able to add their own information to the database, information which they use to target voters and anticipate what issues might motivate them to cast ballots.

In Clinton's case, Mook said, the information stored in the database included "fundamental parts of our strategy."

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said that on Wednesday the Sanders campaign "inappropriately and systematically" accessed Clinton's data. She rejected Weaver's effort to blame the breach on a software glitch and the actions of a small group of rogue staffers, one of whom was fired.

In response, the DNC temporarily turned off Sanders' access to the database and asked for an accounting of how the information was used and disposed of. Only then will the party make a decision on restoring Sanders' access, she said.

That decision infuriated Weaver, who said the party had cut Sanders' team off from the "lifeblood of any campaign." He added, "It is our information, not the DNC's."

Hours later, the Sanders camp filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington seeking an immediate restoration of access to the database. Without it, the lawsuit said, the campaign would lose approximately $600,000 in donations a day.

"It's outrageous to suggest that our campaign 'stole' any data," said Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs. "What is true is the data we collected and need to run a winning campaign is now being stolen from us by a DNC dominated by Clinton people."

Briggs said the campaign hoped to resolve the dispute late Friday night and was "making progress."

Said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon, "We hope that the court will resolve this matter tonight and the Sanders campaign has access to their voter files right away, with adequate protections of our proprietary information."

The back-and-forth underscored Sanders' attempt to cast himself as an anti-establishment upstart willing to take on Clinton, the unquestioned front-runner for her party's nomination.

Even before the lawsuit was filed, Sanders' campaign sent a fundraising email to supporters that said his "quick rise in the national polls (has) caused the Democratic National Committee to place its thumb on the scales in support of Hillary Clinton's campaign."

Notably, the email made no mention of the campaign's decision to fire a staffer involved in the breach and Weaver's admission that the staffer's actions were "unacceptable."

Mook responded, "It's not something to be fundraising off of."

Firewalls are put in place to prevent campaigns from looking at data maintained by their rivals. But the vendor that runs the system, NGP VAN, said it ran a software patch Wednesday that allowed all users to access data belonging to other campaigns.

Fallon said the Sanders campaign staff conducted 25 searches from four different accounts, saving the data into the Sanders campaign account.

NGP VAN said the Sanders staff involved were able to "search by and view (but not export or save or act on) some attributes that came from another campaign." The company said the Sanders campaign saved a "one page-style report containing summary data."

Weaver argued the firewall used by the vendor had previously failed, and he railed against the party for not taking the steps required to keep the information secure. He said in an interview with CNN late Friday that "we don't have any Clinton data."

Josh Uretsky, the data director fired by Sanders' campaign, said his team was merely investigating the security problem and trying to figure out how exposed the software patch left their own data.

"I believe that I took appropriate steps to audit and assess the security breach and that nothing I did was done in a way that it would give the Sanders campaign a competitive advantage," Uretsky said in an email to The Associated Press.

Summaries of data logs provided to the AP show the Sanders team spent nearly an hour in the database reviewing information on Clinton's high-priority voters and other data from nearly a dozen states, including first-to-vote Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Some of these voter lists were saved into a folder named "Targets," according to the logs. Uretsky's deputy appeared to focus on pulling data on South Carolina and Iowa voters based on turnout and support — or lack of support — for Clinton.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-19

[chuckd]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

[stevenl]

Finally, also in the Democrat Party some fireworks

[Pimay1]

In Clinton's case, Mook said, the information stored in the database included "fundamental parts of our strategy."

Right. Lie, lie and lie.

[chuckd]

Maybe this will add some fireworks to the Democrat debate tonight.

What, you folks didn't know there was a debate tonight?

Well, for the record, Debbie (does-the-democrats) Wasserman Schultz has scheduled yet another one of those stealth debates for a Saturday night in the US so nobody will be inclined to watch two geriatric citizens and one failed former governor talk about all the goodies they are going to give to their voters.

Debbie got really lucky this weekend. The Dallas Cowboys are playing the NY Jets in football action at the same time so their exposure will be even less hazardous than previous debates.

Being realistic, how can one get excited about some 73 year old arguing with a 68 year old. You can probably see that every day at your nearest rest home.

The debate will be on CNN tomorrow morning in Thailand, TrueVisions satellite channel 778.

The Dallas/Jets game will be on TrueVisions channel 666 for those of you with some viewing standards.

[Chicog]

Naughty Bernie, must be getting desperate.

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Thus spake one of our resident OAP's!

[impulse]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Remind me, which one is which?

[chuckd]

Naughty Bernie, must be getting desperate.

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Thus spake one of our resident OAP's!

But not as old as Zarathustra.

[chuckd]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Remind me, which one is which?

I was going to say the wild eyed one with the bad haircut, but then I ran across this photo...

[NeverSure]

I can't wait to watch that bale of hay AKA "Her Royal Thighness^TM" debate the nursing home fugitive. Naw, I'll just watch the Cowboys and Jets and read about the highlowlights later.

Cheers.

Edited December 19, 2015 by NeverSure

[NeverSure]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Remind me, which one is which?

I was going to say the wild eyed one with the bad haircut, but then I ran across this photo...

Some tell me she wants to be our next POTUS.

[impulse]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Remind me, which one is which?

I was going to say the wild eyed one with the bad haircut, but then I ran across this photo..

Still not enuff information...

[NeverSure]

Well, we've had months with the attention on the R candidates. Now we get to see what true bottom feeders look like.

[up2u2]

Hillary feeling 'The Bern' maybe?

Recent polling showed in an election Bernie would beat Trump, Cruze and Rubio.

Bernie is by far the better option over Hillary. Her connections to Corporate America are too tight. Not as blatant and corrupt as the republicans but still not a good option if the American people want to take back their government.

The best option for America is Bernie. One payer Health Care, $15+ minimum wage, gun regulation, tuition funded education, build up Unions to represent workers, companies actually paying Tax for a change, 90% super tax on the wealthy, 50% death duties to stop intergenerational wealth transfer.

[sirineou]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

To that add the clowns and it would be funny if it was not so tragic

[Scott]

A post containing profanity has been removed.

[connda]

Oh boo hoo! Queen Hillery has the 'race' (what a ridiculous word - what race?) locked up already. Sanders is just 'Window Dressing' in the Presidential Beauty Pageant being held for the benefit of the clueless masses. The presidential election is already a done deal. Hillery is just waiting in the wings to ascend the throne enter the Oval Office. Too bad betting is illegal here. I'd take the opposite side of any bet against her. The fix is in. The US only maintains the illusion of a Democratically elected president. The reality is far different, but the illusion will suffice for the unwashed masses. Baaaaa! And even if she doesn't win, Democrat president-Republican president: It's like flipping a US copper penny and expecting it to turn into a US Silver Dollar on the next flip. How freaking gullible can the public be. <head shake>

I know, "But what difference does it make." And there you have it. Lmao.

Edited December 19, 2015 by connda

[TheCruncher]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

Losing 600.000$ a day in donations, so since the elections are still merely 330 days away, Sanders would collect another 198.000.000 $ in donations before that day?

I wouldn't want to cast a vote for a man that wastes that much money to get elected.

[connda]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Remind me, which one is which?

I was going to say the wild eyed one with the bad haircut, but then I ran across this photo...

Looks like something out of a Wes Craven movie <shudder> . Nightmare on Pennsylvania Street, errr Ave.

Edited December 19, 2015 by connda

[stevenl]

Seems the dispute has been settled already.

[sirineou]

Seems the dispute has been settled already.

Not in this forum

[Chicog]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

Losing 600.000$ a day in donations, so since the elections are still merely 330 days away, Sanders would collect another 198.000.000 $ in donations before that day?

I wouldn't want to cast a vote for a man that wastes that much money to get elected.

You're joking, I believe they reckon this could end up being the first $2 billion election between both parties.

[Steely Dan]

How appropriate the Democratic Party machine is as murky as the plot of the film 'Weekend at Bernie's'. Bernie had better watch himself here or he too may not last the weekend.

[Berkshire]

I must say that the 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up to have some of the weakest candidates in history. With the GOP primaries being such a disaster full of dopes, liars, and just plain crazies, the best the Dems could do is Bernie and Hillary? I'm almost leaning towards Bernie....if he didn't have so many wacky ideas.

[CMNightRider]

I know our leftist liberal posters actually believe Hillary is going to pick up where Obama left off in turning America, into some sort of third world hell hole but the tide is turning. One doesn't need a crystal ball or the ability to predict the future to see how this next Presidential election will come out. The pendulum swung so far to the left with the Obama social experiment, that the conservatives are on their way to restoring some sort of order in the world with an actual world leader, and not some inept, deceptive amateur posing as a world leader.

[stevenl]

I know our leftist liberal posters actually believe Hillary is going to pick up where Obama left off in turning America, into some sort of third world hell hole but the tide is turning. One doesn't need a crystal ball or the ability to predict the future to see how this next Presidential election will come out. The pendulum swung so far to the left with the Obama social experiment, that the conservatives are on their way to restoring some sort of order in the world with an actual world leader, and not some inept, deceptive amateur posing as a world leader.

Left and liberal, where? The USA has neither, only Bernie could be deemed to be a bit on the left

[Traveler19491]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

Losing 600.000$ a day in donations, so since the elections are still merely 330 days away, Sanders would collect another 198.000.000 $ in donations before that day?

I wouldn't want to cast a vote for a man that wastes that much money to get elected.

Aaaand again we have someone revealing the level of their ignorance. Seeing as Bernie raised $1 million in a single day (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/19/amid-dust-up-with-dnc-sanders-raises-1-million-in-a-single-day-campaign-source-says/), and has, on numerous occasions, raised similar amounts in very short time spans (http://usuncut.com/politics/backfire-sanders-raises-1-2-million-in-two-days-after-pro-hillary-attack-ad/), yes, a shutdown of the type engineered by pro-Hillary shills has the potential to do serious damage to his campaign.

Having said that, given that, via his campaign committee and super PACs, Jerk! has raised in excess of $128 million so far (https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00037006), I guess it's safe to assume that you wouldn't want him either? Same for Cruz, Carson, Rubio, and the rest of the clown bus.

[up2u2]

I know our leftist liberal posters actually believe Hillary is going to pick up where Obama left off in turning America, into some sort of third world hell hole but the tide is turning. One doesn't need a crystal ball or the ability to predict the future to see how this next Presidential election will come out. The pendulum swung so far to the left with the Obama social experiment, that the conservatives are on their way to restoring some sort of order in the world with an actual world leader, and not some inept, deceptive amateur posing as a world leader.

Oh please your killing me. There is a coat of paint thickness between Obama or Hillary being Democrat Center Left and the Republican Center Right. What the American electorate is looking for is the Democrat Moderate Center Left that Bernie represents. They actually want to push the pendulum much further Left than Hillary is advocating effectively pushing America into 'a third world hell hole' like modern democracies Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Denmark etc all who have publicly funded health care and pharmaceuticals , publicly funded tuition Universities, a liveable minimum wage, sensible gun laws, progressive Tax systems, publicly funded prison systems, publicly funded elections where elections cannot be purchased by the wealthy. Terrible disgusting third world hell holes.

If you think Obama is far left extremism and a social experiment you simply have not the slightest understanding of a modern functioning social democracy that governs for the benefit of the people not corporations.

Seriously you would need publicly funded health care if you went and saw how a modern social democracy actually works as you would be clutching your chest and having a stroke. These 'third world hell holes' actually invest in the health of their people, invest in the education of their children, invest in drugs to protect their people, invest in a liveable wage, invest in a fair distribution of wealth. I know, terrifying isn't it?

[TheCruncher]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

Losing 600.000$ a day in donations, so since the elections are still merely 330 days away, Sanders would collect another 198.000.000 $ in donations before that day?

I wouldn't want to cast a vote for a man that wastes that much money to get elected.

Aaaand again we have someone revealing the level of their ignorance. Seeing as Bernie raised $1 million in a single day (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/19/amid-dust-up-with-dnc-sanders-raises-1-million-in-a-single-day-campaign-source-says/), and has, on numerous occasions, raised similar amounts in very short time spans (http://usuncut.com/politics/backfire-sanders-raises-1-2-million-in-two-days-after-pro-hillary-attack-ad/), yes, a shutdown of the type engineered by pro-Hillary shills has the potential to do serious damage to his campaign.

Having said that, given that, via his campaign committee and super PACs, Jerk! has raised in excess of $128 million so far (https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00037006), I guess it's safe to assume that you wouldn't want him either? Same for Cruz, Carson, Rubio, and the rest of the clown bus.

I couldn't find a name Jerk on the list of candidates, so not the slightest idea who you're talking about, but you're correct to assume that I wouldn't want any of the others you mentioned.

[connda]

Is there dissension within the ranks of the geriatric brigade the Democrats are championing?

A 73 year old socialist suing a 68 year old pathological liar?

Tell me it isn't so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2015, 05:26 pm

Sanders sues Democratic Party

By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign sued the Democratic National Committee in federal court Friday evening following the suspension of his campaign from the DNC’s voter database after a security breach.

The suit claims that the campaign is losing $600,000 in donations each day that it does not have access to the data, and adds that the “damage to the campaign’s political viability as a result of being unable to communicate with constituents and voters, is far more severe, and incapable of measurement.”

The DNC barred Sanders from accessing the party’s voter file, which includes much of his campaign’s voter data, after a campaign staffer improperly accessed private data belonging to front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The vendor hired by the party to maintain the data accidentally created the security vulnerability during an update, the DNC says.

Continued here: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party

Losing 600.000$ a day in donations, so since the elections are still merely 330 days away, Sanders would collect another 198.000.000 $ in donations before that day?

I wouldn't want to cast a vote for a man that wastes that much money to get elected.

You're joking, I believe they reckon this could end up being the first $2 billion election between both parties.

Thank you very much Supreme Court (of idiots) for taking the cap off of Corporate campaign contributions (Citizens United vs FEC for those who need that sourced). Now the various PACs are naught but corporate contribution money pits for candidates who will do the bidding of the highest contributors.

You think Thailand is corrupt??? In the US they have made corruption legal. Think about it. Why go though the process of making corruption (such as swaying elections with money) illegal when you can just make it legal. Those with the deepest pockets hold sway over the Congress and The Executive branches of government. The Supreme Court? I'm thinking at least one member is compromised.

You can kiss the days of getting a 'grass roots' candidate into the Senate. Those positions, along with the presidency, go to the candidates who have been buffed, polished, and vetted by corporate interests in the US.

So a couple of Billion USD for this presidential travesty? Easily.

Edited December 21, 2015 by connda