Bernie Sanders has witnessed an unprecedented influx of donations from millions of his supporters that ponied up as much money as they could afford for his campaign for president. As the Democratic elections wind down to the party’s convention in July, many of his donors are feeling cheated and scammed by the Democratic Party’s handling of the primary race.
With a recently released batch of documents allegedly hacked from DNC servers indicating possible election fraud, Sanders supporters are now seeking legal compensation on a massive scale.
A Miami civil litigation firm announced Thursday that thousands of Bernie Sanders are filing a class action lawsuit against the Democratic Nations Committee that is scheduled to be issued early next week.
Roughly 100 individuals officially signed onto the lawsuit, but thousands more have submitted legal paperwork within 48 hours since the law firm of Beck & Lee Trial Lawyers announced the proposed brief.
“Signed agreements are coming in steadily and we continue to get new requests by the minute,” Jared Beck, a partner of the law firm, said.
According to US Uncut , those who donated to the DNC after Sanders entered the race, either directly or indirectly through third-party payment system like ActBlue, will be eligible to join the lawsuit. Anyone who donated to Bernie Sanders’ campaign throughout the course of the primaries and caucuses are also qualified.
“We think that the DNC has been running absolutely out of control and completely disregarding their responsibilities, rights, and duties to the public,” Elizabeth Beck, senior partner of Beck & Lee, said.
The lawsuit emerged after several documents leaked from hacker “ Guccifer 2.0 ” that seemed to corroborate the widely held belief of collusion between the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign, which dated back to May 26, 2015, a month after Sanders entered the race.
Lawyers also points to several documents in the leaked trove of data that the DNC, along with media outlets, were “actively working behind the scenes” to promote Hillary Clinton’s profile.
Beck states that grounds for the lawsuit are rooted in the DNC charter and bylaws , specifically Article 5, Section 4, where it explicitly states the party’s chair is to remain impartial during the primary election and cannot actively campaign or promote a specific candidate.
“The DNC needs to do what it says in its charter, which is to be even-handed and unbiased in response to the slate of candidates running for the nomination,” Beck said.
Sanders and his supporters have long felt that DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who worked for Hillary during her 2008 campaign and is currently being removed from her position, has tipped the scales in favor of Hillary Clinton while marginalizing Bernie Sanders at every turn.
The Sanders campaign also accused Shultz of scheduling debates during low viewing times in an effort to minimize Bernie’s exposure, while insulating Hillary. They also shut down the campaign’s access to voter file databases for 24 hours because the DNC believed his staffers had “exploited a software glitch” that allowed them to view confidential voter information held by the Clinton campaign, according to the Washington Post .
“It is clearly the case that when given truth serum, Debbie Wasserman Schultz vastly prefers Hillary Clinton to be the nominee, obviously, and to the extent that there are things that can be done institutionally and marginally to facilitate that outcome, they are being done,” MSNBC host Chris Hayes said.
Beck & Lee’s lawsuit is not the only action taken against the Democratic Party by Bernie Sanders and his supporters.
Last month, the Las Vegas Sun reports that Sanders Democrats or “Berniecrats” filed a suit against the Nevada State Democratic Party, alleging they violated both its own internal rules and state law by not allowing them to run for party office.
Nevada Democrats are accused of holding a secret deadline in filing for the party elections, which violated the party’s delegate selection clause. As a result, the Bernie delegates subsequently missed the elections for their party’s executive board, central committee, and representatives for national committeewoman and national committeeman at its state convention. None of the Sanders delegates are committee members or elected officials, and they will not be able to shape the party’s platform in that state.
These lawsuits, while different in nature, feature several common dark, underlining threads and exposes the Democratic Party’s distaste for Bernie Sanders, his supporters, and the progressive movement.
The DNC suppressed primary voting by limiting polling sites, Democratic ballots, and excluding independents in most of the country. They’ve forcefully shunned Sanders delegates, prevented them from gaining committee seats in several states with illegal motions, and abated their pleads during sessions.
Despite 42% of the vote, at @nydems meeting we played by their rules w/out dais representation. We were ignored, dismissed & even assaulted.
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) June 21, 2016
Michael Reich ignored Roberts Rules-shut my mic off when I motioned (in case he didn’t hear 20pl) then told us “I don’t even have to listen”
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) June 21, 2016
I’d like to see the news about the male HRC delegate that hit @MouBernie TWICE with a cane as she walked up to give her motion to the NYDP.
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) June 21, 2016
And all the while, the DNC has positioned their prized candidate Hillary Clinton in the best position to win the nomination, despite an FBI criminal investigation that would otherwise sink other candidate’s campaigns.They have also insured her supporters are in seats of power and control throughout the country to further suppress the progressive agenda.
As a result, the divide between progressives and center-left Democrats is growing wider by the day. As centrists call for “party unity,” progressives and Sanders supporters hear only, “shut up!” and “fall in line!”
If these lawsuits, leaked documents, and firsthand accounts prove one thing, it is that Bernie Sanders and his supporters are not ready for Hillary and they may never be.
If you want to join the Beck & Lee’s lawsuit, email [email protected], and follow the progress of the lawsuit on the official Facebook page .
[Photo by Timothy D. Easley/AP Images]