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WikiLeaks: DNC Official Said Sanders’ Camp ‘Needs A Villain’ As Wasserman Schultz Said Sanders ‘Isn’t Going To Be President’

By Dawn Papple
Published on: 15:27 PST, Jul 22, 2016

Tracie Pough, Wasserman Schultz’s chief of staff at the DNC, allegedly sent an email that was included in the latest WikiLeaks release. The highly-awaited WikiLeaks release included 19,252 emails from the U.S. Democratic National Committee.

The email showing disdain for Sanders’ campaign from Wasserman Schultz’s chief of staff was sent to Ryan Banfill. Banfill was hired this year by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the DNC, to be her new campaign spokesman and communications consultant, according to Shark-Tank.

The email from Tracie Pough was sent May 18, 2016, before the Democrats’ primary season concluded. The topic of the leaked email was Senator Sanders’ campaign managers’ response to the Nevada Convention. Banfill had sent an email pointing out a story on Politico about an appearance by Jeff Weaver on CNN, during which the campaign manager discusses Bernie Sanders’ response to the controversial convention in Nevada.

“Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver argued Wednesday that Sanders put out a statement before the convention and again after speaking with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday. ‘He categorically condemns any kind of threats that went on — absolutely unacceptable,’ he told CNN before accusing Wasserman Schultz of ‘throwing shade on the Sanders campaign since the very beginning,’ citing a limited debate schedule that featured weekend debates, the campaign’s revoked access to its voter data and a joint fundraising agreement with Hillary Clinton’s campaign that Weaver said takes money away from state parties and goes to the DNC. ‘Look, I gotta say it’s not the DNC,’ Weaver added. ‘You know, by and large, people at the DNC have been very good to us. Debbie Wasserman Schultz really is the exception.'”

Weaver’s comments on CNN were in response to Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s comment that claimed Sanders’ campaign’s response to the reports of violence at the Nevada Convention was “anything but acceptable.” Of course, as it turns out, no chairs were ever thrown at the convention. The story was fabricated and perpetuated by the mainstream media.

Jon Ralston, a veteran political reporter, spread the viral falsehood on Twitter demeaning Bernie Sanders delegates at the Nevada convention.

Though Ralston’s erroneous claim that Sanders’ delegates threw chairs was ultimately called out, and PBS cancelled his show “Ralston Live,” significant damage had already been done to Sanders’ campaign by the time the truth came out. Kentucky and Oregon voted in the midst of the misinformation, and social media posts indicated that the false report, which was even covered by the Associated Press, New York Times, and CBS, influenced some voters in those states. Ralston had always been considered a trusted source for news.

A report on Bloomberg in October, 2015, claimed that Weavers’ accusations against the head of the DNC had substance. That report indicated that of the two dozen Democratic insiders interviewed by Bloomberg, including several DNC vice chairs, most argued that Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s debate schedule indeed showed favoritism to Hillary Clinton.

“Many argued, further, that the debate plan enacted by the chairwoman is badly flawed—an assessment shared by many party activists, left-bent supporters of Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, and those candidates themselves, all of whom see it as a naked effort to aid and comfort Hillary Clinton. And they maintained that the plan was a clear reflection of Wasserman Schultz’s management style, which many of them see as endangering Democratic prospects in 2016 and beyond.”

So, while there were no chairs thrown in Nevada at the state’s Democratic Convention, and while many DNC insiders agree that the head of the DNC had been unfair to Sanders’ campaign, the email from Wasserman Schultz’s chief of staff to her campaign spokesman and communications consultant still demeaned Sanders’ campaign, though they were legally obligated to remain completely impartial.

“Calling on them to ask their supporters to be civil is not ‘throwing shade’,” Tracie Pough allegedly wrote, according to the leaked email, adding that the Sanders’ campaign needs a villain.

“They need a villain. – TP”

Wasserman Schultz’ opinion of Weaver was even more dramatic in an alleged email to several DNC officials.

“D*** liar. Particularly scummy that he barely acknowledges the violent and threatening behavior that occurred.”

Another alleged email included in the WikiLeaks release from that same time period shows the head of the DNC stating that Sanders is never going to be President.

“This is a silly story. He isn’t going to be president.”

Wasserman Schultz allegedly wrote to Luis Miranda, the DNC’s Communications Director, on May 21, 2016, that the very idea that Sanders would oust the DNC leader from her position if he is elected was silly, because Sanders would not be the nominee. A few days before that email though, after DNC staffer Kate Houghton allegedly forwarded a Breitbart News story to Wasserman Schultz on May 18, 2016, pointing out comments made by MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski, Wasserman Schultz sent an angry email in response. Brzezinski had called for the chairwoman to step down over the claims of not remaining impartial. Wasserman-Schultz told Luis Miranda to call MSNBC president Phil Griffin.

“This is the LAST straw. Please call Phil a Griffin. This is outrageous. She needs to apologize.”

Do the new WikiLeaks emails change any perception you had before about the impartiality of the DNC or Wasserman Schultz? Read more about the DNC WikiLeaks files, and check in with Inquisitr as more of the thousands of emails are combed through this weekend.

[Image via Wikimedia]

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