DNC leaked Sanders letter to press, made "agreement" to review critical Clinton story before publishing

"OFF THE RECORD," DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda wrote. He insisted, "We’re operating in good faith"

Published July 23, 2016 12:47PM (EDT)

  (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
(AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Whistleblowing journalism organization released nearly 20,000 of the Democratic National Committee's internal emails on Friday.

Several messages show how the DNC, which is supposed to be neutral during the Democratic primary, undermined Bernie Sanders' campaign while supporting Hillary Clinton's.

In one email, the DNC acknowledges, "Super PAC paying young voters to push back online on Sanders supporters."

Another details how DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz furiously pressured MSNBC after it criticized her “unfair” treatment of Sanders.

Several other messages show how the DNC worked with journalists in a way that favored Clinton.

dnc politico draft

One email mentions an "agreement" the DNC made a Politico reporter.

Journalist Kenneth Vogel was investigating potential corruption in Clinton's fundraising practices. Clinton claimed to raise money to help state Democratic committees, but Vogel revealed that they got just 1 percent of the $60 million raised.

On April 30, a few days before publishing, Vogel sent DNC Press Secretary Mark Paustenbach a draft of his article in an email titled "per agreement ... any thoughts appreciated."

"Vogel gave me his story ahead of time/before it goes to his editors as long as I didn't share it," Paustenbach wrote when he forwarded the draft to DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda.

"Let me know if you see anything that's missing and I'll push back," Paustenbach said.

The article was then published in May 2 with the headline "Clinton fundraising leaves little for state parties."

Another email reveals that the DNC leaked to a reporter a letter from Sanders.

dnc wsj off the record

On May 6, Wall Street Journal reporter Laura Meckler sent an email titled "can you send me the letter Sanders sent the DNC?" to Miranda and Paustenbach.

Meckler wanted information on the Sanders campaign's strategy to negotiation the Democratic Party "platform, rules, etc."

Two hours later, Miranda replied with a link to the letter.

"OFF THE RECORD, You didn’t get this from me," he stressed to the reporter.

"They didn’t send it to us before planting the story. We’re operating in good faith," Miranda insisted.


By Ben Norton

Ben Norton is a politics reporter and staff writer at AlterNet. You can find him on Twitter at @BenjaminNorton.

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Bernie Sanders Democratic National Committee Dnc Hillary Clinton