Officials with the Democratic National Committee have accused the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of improperly accessing confidential voter information gathered by the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton, according to several party officials.
Jeff Weaver, the Vermont senator’s campaign manager, acknowledged that a staffer had viewed the information but blamed a software vendor hired by the DNC for a glitch that allowed access. Weaver said one Sanders staffer was fired over the incident.
The discovery sparked alarm at the DNC, which promptly shut off the Sanders campaign’s access to the strategically crucial list of likely Democratic voters.
The DNC maintains the master list and rents it to national and state campaigns, which then add their own, proprietary information gathered by field workers and volunteers. Firewalls are supposed to prevent campaigns from viewing data gathered by their rivals.
NGP VAN, the vendor that handles the master file, said the incident occurred Wednesday while a patch was being applied to the software. The process briefly opened a window into proprietary information from other campaigns, said the company’s chief, Stu Trevelyan. He said a full audit will be conducted.
The DNC has told the Sanders campaign that it will not be allowed access to the data again until it provides an explanation as well as assurances that all Clinton data has been destroyed.
Having his campaign cut off from the national party’s voter data is a strategic setback for Sanders — and could be a devastating blow if it lasts. The episode also raises questions about the DNC’s ability to provide strategic resources to campaigns and state parties.
Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said four Sanders campaign staffers accessed Clinton data, and that three of them did so at the direction of their boss, Josh Uretsky, who was the operative fired.
Uretsky told CNN Friday morning that he and others on the campaign discovered the software glitch Wednesday morning and probed the system to discover the extent of their own data’s exposure. He said there was no attempt to take Clinton information but said he took responsibility for the situation.
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“We investigated it for a short period of time to see the scope of the Sanders campaign’s exposure and then the breach was shut down presumably by the vendor,” he told CNN. “We did not gain any material benefit.”
Weaver said the Sanders campaign never downloaded or printed any of the data, meaning it is no longer in possession of any proprietary information. He squarely blamed NGP VAN for the glitch — and blamed the DNC for hiring the company.
He said the campaign has flagged similar problems with the software for the DNC in the past.
“Sadly, the DNC is relying on an incompetent vendor who on more than one occasion has dropped the firewall between the various Democratic candidates’ data,” he said.
The DNC is likely to initiate an outside audit to examine how the incident occurred and whether any other data was improperly seen.
“The DNC places a high priority on maintaining the security of our system and protecting the data on it,” DNC spokesman Luis Miranda said in a statement. “We are working with our campaigns and the vendor to have full clarity on the extent of the breach, ensure that this isolated incident does not happen again, and to enable our campaigns to continue engaging voters on the issues that matter most to them and their families.”
Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, declined to comment.
Trevelyan, the head of NGP VAN, described the episode as an “isolated incident that was fairly short in duration,” and he added: “By lunchtime, it was resolved.”
Officials said they were unlikely to ask for a criminal investigation. However, Sanders could face political fallout from the impression that his staff worked to gain an unfair advantage.
Voter information is the lifeblood of day-to-day campaign contact with potential supporters. Sophisticated campaigns spend millions gathering information such as how likely individual voters are to cast ballots in primary elections as well as which candidate they currently favor.
The data also could include detailed consumer information designed to help the campaign target their appeals to groups of voters.
The dispute erupted as Sanders and Clinton prepare to take part in their third debate, in New Hampshire on Saturday night.
Maintaining the master list is one of the prime responsibilities of the national party committee, particularly at a time when other outside political groups and super PACs are increasingly taking on roles once served by party committees.
For that reason, the security lapse could deal a blow to the DNC. Already, in Republican politics, outside organizations have been working to compile master voter lists independently from the Republican National Committee.
Post by karinothing on Dec 18, 2015 9:38:40 GMT -5
Dh was cracking up about this earlier today. This is typical NGP VAN and I doubt it was something that accidentally opened up. I bet someone at NGP accidentally gave Sanders group the permission to hillary info. IMO it isn't a big deal. It is donor data. Available to the public through FEC filings. He just got access early I am guessing. And I don't even think the DNC can ban him from using the database as I am pretty sure he has to use that to file with the FEC since NGP bought up their competitors.
Eta the news this morning made it sound like donor data, but maybe it is actual voter file info. I will have to ask Dh what special info he would have seen. I am guessing it is stuff like "leaning hillary" or whatever.
Dh was cracking up about this earlier today. This is typical NGP VAN and I doubt it was something that accidentally opened up. I bet someone at NGP accidentally gave Sanders group the permission to hillary info. IMO it isn't a big deal. It is donor data. Available to the public through FEC filings. He just got access early I am guessing. And I don't even think the DNC can ban him from using the database as I am pretty sure he has to use that to file with the FEC since NGP bought up their competitors.
It's not just donor data; it's data collected by HRC field teams that are then added to the main list of voter roll info that only her people should have access to.
Dh was cracking up about this earlier today. This is typical NGP VAN and I doubt it was something that accidentally opened up. I bet someone at NGP accidentally gave Sanders group the permission to hillary info. IMO it isn't a big deal. It is donor data. Available to the public through FEC filings. He just got access early I am guessing. And I don't even think the DNC can ban him from using the database as I am pretty sure he has to use that to file with the FEC since NGP bought up their competitors.
It's not just donor data; it's data collected by HRC field teams that are then added to the main list of voter roll info that only her people should have access too.
Sorry I added an eta.
I still think someone at NGP fucked up. Not saying the Bernie campaign was right but just that this kind of happens on the semi reg with their software.
Post by jojoandleo on Dec 18, 2015 10:04:19 GMT -5
I have no idea what any of this means, so it's a *shrug* for me. I'm not voting for Bernie in the primaries anyway. And I doubt this will harm him as the Berners will just find a way to blame Hillary. Just like I recently saw some shit that Hillary planted Trump as a Republican candidate. The conspiracy theory Berners are just as bad as the Trumpers. Which is probably why they would vote for Trump if not Bernie. People be crazy.
I have no idea what any of this means, so it's a *shrug* for me. I'm not voting for Bernie in the primaries anyway. And I doubt this will harm him as the Berners will just find a way to blame Hillary. Just like I recently saw some shit that Hillary planted Trump as a Republican candidate. The conspiracy theory Berners are just as bad as the Trumpers. Which is probably why they would vote for Trump if not Bernie. People be crazy.
It means that one day a Bernie sanders staffer saw a new button pop up on the software and clicked it. Then saw Clinton data including donor history so how much the person pledged to donate, which events they go to, and what not. Then the staffer did not report it right away.
I have no idea what any of this means, so it's a *shrug* for me. I'm not voting for Bernie in the primaries anyway. And I doubt this will harm him as the Berners will just find a way to blame Hillary. Just like I recently saw some shit that Hillary planted Trump as a Republican candidate. The conspiracy theory Berners are just as bad as the Trumpers. Which is probably why they would vote for Trump if not Bernie. People be crazy.
It means that one day a Bernie sanders staffer saw a new button pop up on the software and clicked it. Then saw Clinton data including donor history so how much the person pledged to donate, which events they go to, and what not. Then the staffer did not report it right away.
Maybe this makes me a bad voter, but I can't really get it up for this. If Bernie told his staff to hack this info, I'd be pissed, but this? Ehhhh. Although the staffer should be fired as this should have been reported right away so as to fix this breach ASAP.
4 Bernie staffers accessed and searched the data. 1 has been fired at this point.
Yeah. I am not saying they aren't in the wrong. Just knowing what I know of NGP a lot of the fault lies with them. Poor DH has been on conference calls all day with people freaking out re NGP and wanting to cancel contracts.
Post by tacosforlife on Dec 18, 2015 11:43:51 GMT -5
A friend of mine posted on FB that he is a Sanders supporter but finds all the Sanders supporters claiming conspiracy theory are embarrassing. And sure enough, there is a Bernie Bro who is all, "WHY DOES THE DNC HAVE THIS DATA? AND WHY DID THIS HAPPEN SUSPICIOUSLY CLOSE TO IOWA?!"
OMG. People. Just accept that Bernie is not as pure as the driven snow and move on.
4 Bernie staffers accessed and searched the data. 1 has been fired at this point.
I was just going to say that I heard on the radio that one had been fired, so I assume that means that they realized they weren't supposed to have the data.
I am giving Bernie a bit of the benefit of doubt here. He fired someone who obviously did something unethical, but not illegal. And I'm going to assume that he didn't tell them to look and review the data, but that they were just curious when they found the glitch.
A friend of mine posted on FB that he is a Sanders supporter but finds all the Sanders supporters claiming conspiracy theory are embarrassing. And sure enough, there is a Bernie Bro who is all, "WHY DOES THE DNC HAVE THIS DATA? AND WHY DID THIS HAPPEN SUSPICIOUSLY CLOSE TO IOWA?!"
OMG. People. Just accept that Bernie is not as pure as the driven snow and move on.
OMG - It's still like 2+ months away. So anything that happens in the next 60-days is a conspiracy against Bernie? That's hilarious.
A friend of mine posted on FB that he is a Sanders supporter but finds all the Sanders supporters claiming conspiracy theory are embarrassing. And sure enough, there is a Bernie Bro who is all, "WHY DOES THE DNC HAVE THIS DATA? AND WHY DID THIS HAPPEN SUSPICIOUSLY CLOSE TO IOWA?!"
OMG. People. Just accept that Bernie is not as pure as the driven snow and move on.
See, that's why I don't think this will hurt him. It will just annoy the FUCK out of me. Because there will just be more "Hillary is secretly Hydra" type bullshit. I am slightly annoyed at how Bernie has (unintentionally, I assume) driven this wedge in democrats where Bernie Bros are posting just as much shit about Hillary as Republicans. Which hurts the party overall. Most (not all, we all have crazies) Hillary supporters have stated they would vote for Bernie if he won the primaries. Not the "Bernie as Jesus" people. It's Bernie or they will vote Republican. Which makes zero sense.
A friend of mine posted on FB that he is a Sanders supporter but finds all the Sanders supporters claiming conspiracy theory are embarrassing. And sure enough, there is a Bernie Bro who is all, "WHY DOES THE DNC HAVE THIS DATA? AND WHY DID THIS HAPPEN SUSPICIOUSLY CLOSE TO IOWA?!"
OMG. People. Just accept that Bernie is not as pure as the driven snow and move on.
See, that's why I don't think this will hurt him. It will just annoy the FUCK out of me. Because there will just be more "Hillary is secretly Hydra" type bullshit. I am slightly annoyed at how Bernie has (unintentionally, I assume) driven this wedge in democrats where Bernie Bros are posting just as much shit about Hillary as Republicans. Which hurts the party overall. Most (not all, we all have crazies) Hillary supporters have stated they would vote for Bernie if he won the primaries. Not the "Bernie as Jesus" people. It's Bernie or they will vote Republican. Which makes zero sense.
The people I know have said it's Bernie or staying home. Which I suppose is a little better because if somehow Jeb! were able to pull a rabbit out of a hat, turnout would also be low on the GOP side. But still. Come on. Grow the fuck up, Bernie Bros.
The article is not very clear, but my Berner friends are saying that the Sanders campaign was the one who reported this to the DNC, and the DNC responded with their hair on fire, basically. So... how was the incident discovered, exactly?
A friend of mine posted on FB that he is a Sanders supporter but finds all the Sanders supporters claiming conspiracy theory are embarrassing. And sure enough, there is a Bernie Bro who is all, "WHY DOES THE DNC HAVE THIS DATA? AND WHY DID THIS HAPPEN SUSPICIOUSLY CLOSE TO IOWA?!"
OMG. People. Just accept that Bernie is not as pure as the driven snow and move on.
See, that's why I don't think this will hurt him. It will just annoy the FUCK out of me. Because there will just be more "Hillary is secretly Hydra" type bullshit. I am slightly annoyed at how Bernie has (unintentionally, I assume) driven this wedge in democrats where Bernie Bros are posting just as much shit about Hillary as Republicans. Which hurts the party overall. Most (not all, we all have crazies) Hillary supporters have stated they would vote for Bernie if he won the primaries. Not the "Bernie as Jesus" people. It's Bernie or they will vote Republican. Which makes zero sense.
OMG, I had to leave an FB group when I mentioned that I waffle between Bernie and Hillary, and I would probably vote for either. I got questions about what, exactly, I thought made HRC better and/or what could possibly be wrong with Bernie. And then "but WHY?!"
It's a conspiracy against Bernie because yesterday was a "big day for him" in terms of endorsements and donors. So of course the DNC decided to trick his team into doing something nefarious. And also the owner of the list serve is in the tank for HRC. I'm not even joking.
The article is not very clear, but my Berner friends are saying that the Sanders campaign was the one who reported this to the DNC, and the DNC responded with their hair on fire, basically. So... how was the incident discovered, exactly?
I had to be reported by the Bernie campaign b/c if they didn't, it would have taken much longer for the software company to realize and they don't want the negative view, so I'm guessing it was a Bernie staffer who said, "Wait, what?! That's unethical, let's call DNC."
Plus, this is on CNN now...
Fired Sanders aide: I wasn't peeking at Clinton data files
The Bernie Sanders campaign staffer who was fired for accessing data unique to the Hillary Clinton campaign's vote file, told CNN on Friday that he was only trying to "understand how badly the Sanders campaign's data was exposed" and not attempting to take data from the Clinton campaign.
"We knew there was a security breach in the data, and we were just trying to understand it and what was happening," said Josh Uretsky, reached by phone on Friday morning, a day after the campaign let him go.
He added, "To the best of my knowledge, nobody took anything that would have given the (Sanders) campaign any benefit."
The Democratic National Committee suspended Sanders' presidential campaign from accessing its voter database after it alleged the campaign took advantage of a software error to access Hillary Clinton's confidential voter information.
RELATED: The DNC suspends Sanders campaign
The Sanders campaign fired Uretsky over the breach. "That behavior is unacceptable and that staffer was fired immediately," Sanders' spokesman Michael Briggs said Thursday night.
Uretsky, who is experienced with the NGP-VAN system used by the DNC and has administered it before, said he first noticed the data breach on Wednesday morning.
"We investigated it for a short period of time to see the scope of the Sanders campaign's exposure and then the breach was shut down presumably by the vendor," he said. "We did not gain any material benefit."
According to the DNC, the Sanders campaign will remain suspended until it provides the DNC with a full explanation of the episode and provides proof that any improperly accessed data has been discarded.
Uretsky and his team notified people within the Sanders campaign of the breach on Wednesday and the news worked its way up the chain of command. After reporting it to the campaign, Uretsky said he intended to call the DNC to inform officials there. But before he could do that, the DNC called him.
READ: Sanders touts union, liberal endorsements
"They called me fairly quickly after the breach was closed to inform me that there was something weird going on and that portions of the system were shut down," he said.
Uretsky says he got into the system to create a record to make it clear to anyone with NBG-VAN knowledge that he was "going through stuff that I wasn't supposed to have access to."
NGP-VAN is the technology company that provides campaigns access to the voter files.
The point: He wanted people with knowledge of the voter files to be able to clearly see that he was testing the depth of the breach.
"This wasn't the first time we identified a bad breach," he said, confirming to CNN that the Sanders campaign reported another breach to the DNC in October. "We reported it to them. They thanked us for reporting it and they told us the breach had been closed."
"In retrospect, I got a little panicky because our data was totally exposed, too," Uretsky said of how he handled the latest breach. " We had to have an assessment, and understand of how broad the exposure was and I had to document it so that I could try to calm down and think about what actually happened so that I could figure out how to protect our stuff."
READ: Hillary Clinton maintains national lead in latest Monmouth poll
Uretsky was informed at the end of the day on Thursday that his three-month stint at the campaign was over.
The now-former Sanders staffer would not comment on whether other members of his team were involved in testing the breach.
"It was 100% my responsibly and I take full responsibility for whatever happened," he said from Burlington before preparing to pack his life up and fly back to his hometown of Philadelphia.
The suspension comes at a terrible time for Sanders: One day after one of his strongest 24-hours of the campaign and one day before the third Democratic debate on Saturday. Without the data, it is near impossible for the Sanders campaign to target prospective supporters.
See, that's why I don't think this will hurt him. It will just annoy the FUCK out of me. Because there will just be more "Hillary is secretly Hydra" type bullshit. I am slightly annoyed at how Bernie has (unintentionally, I assume) driven this wedge in democrats where Bernie Bros are posting just as much shit about Hillary as Republicans. Which hurts the party overall. Most (not all, we all have crazies) Hillary supporters have stated they would vote for Bernie if he won the primaries. Not the "Bernie as Jesus" people. It's Bernie or they will vote Republican. Which makes zero sense.
OMG, I had to leave an FB group when I mentioned that I waffle between Bernie and Hillary, and I would probably vote for either. I got questions about what, exactly, I thought made HRC better and/or what could possibly be wrong with Bernie. And then "but WHY?!"
STAHP!
I was all in with Bernie when the election season started. I agree with his ideals. But, I just take issue with his methods. And I don't feel he is strong in foreign politics. Hillary already has a relationship with a lot of diplomats. And I still waffle from time to time, but I just feel like Bernie has promised a lot that he can't fulfill. But, yeah, I mentioned in an FB group that some of the Bernie Bros actually made me look into Bernie and discover I wasn't 100% positive about voting for him and have some issues with his methods. I basically was told Bernie has no faults and Hillary is a lying, evil bitch who will bring the apocalypse. Dude said he would vote for a Republican first. I told him I felt this response had at least a touch of misogyny behind it and was then deleted and blocked on FB. Bye, Felipe.
"We investigated it for a short period of time to see the scope of the Sanders campaign's exposure and then the breach was shut down presumably by the vendor," he said. "We did not gain any material benefit."
Uretsky and his team notified people within the Sanders campaign of the breach on Wednesday and the news worked its way up the chain of command. After reporting it to the campaign, Uretsky said he intended to call the DNC to inform officials there. But before he could do that, the DNC called him.
Uretsky says he got into the system to create a record to make it clear to anyone with NBG-VAN knowledge that he was "going through stuff that I wasn't supposed to have access to."
I have trouble believing the bolded. "I was totally only on there so they would know I was where I didn't belong and then I was TOTALLY going to call them, like, five seconds after they called me!" Why wouldn't he just have called to begin with and let them ascertain the extent of the breach?
OMG, I had to leave an FB group when I mentioned that I waffle between Bernie and Hillary, and I would probably vote for either. I got questions about what, exactly, I thought made HRC better and/or what could possibly be wrong with Bernie. And then "but WHY?!"
STAHP!
I was all in with Bernie when the election season started. I agree with his ideals. But, I just take issue with his methods. And I don't feel he is strong in foreign politics. Hillary already has a relationship with a lot of diplomats. And I still waffle from time to time, but I just feel like Bernie has promised a lot that he can't fulfill. But, yeah, I mentioned in an FB group that some of the Bernie Bros actually made me look into Bernie and discover I wasn't 100% positive about voting for him and have some issues with his methods. I basically was told Bernie has no faults and Hillary is a lying, evil bitch who will bring the apocalypse. Dude said he would vote for a Republican first. I told him I felt this response had at least a touch of misogyny behind it and was then deleted and blocked on FB. Bye, Felipe.
Yeah, I found that on a state political (left-leaning) blog. The main blogger is not pro HRC or Bernie, but pro Dems in politics in general, but the commentators are Bernie Bros to the max.
See, that's why I don't think this will hurt him. It will just annoy the FUCK out of me. Because there will just be more "Hillary is secretly Hydra" type bullshit. I am slightly annoyed at how Bernie has (unintentionally, I assume) driven this wedge in democrats where Bernie Bros are posting just as much shit about Hillary as Republicans. Which hurts the party overall. Most (not all, we all have crazies) Hillary supporters have stated they would vote for Bernie if he won the primaries. Not the "Bernie as Jesus" people. It's Bernie or they will vote Republican. Which makes zero sense.
OMG, I had to leave an FB group when I mentioned that I waffle between Bernie and Hillary, and I would probably vote for either. I got questions about what, exactly, I thought made HRC better and/or what could possibly be wrong with Bernie. And then "but WHY?!"
STAHP!
Exact same questioning happened to me by my uncle when he found out I was supporting HRC. Exact same. It's almost as if they have a playbook. Lol.
OMG, I had to leave an FB group when I mentioned that I waffle between Bernie and Hillary, and I would probably vote for either. I got questions about what, exactly, I thought made HRC better and/or what could possibly be wrong with Bernie. And then "but WHY?!"
STAHP!
Exact same questioning happened to me by my uncle when he found out I was supporting HRC. Exact same. It's almost as if they have a playbook. Lol.
It's called "Reddit" and it also has a playbook on revenge porn and everything else wrong with humanity.
OMG, I had to leave an FB group when I mentioned that I waffle between Bernie and Hillary, and I would probably vote for either. I got questions about what, exactly, I thought made HRC better and/or what could possibly be wrong with Bernie. And then "but WHY?!"
STAHP!
Exact same questioning happened to me by my uncle when he found out I was supporting HRC. Exact same. It's almost as if they have a playbook. Lol.
"Have you heard the news about our Lord and Savior, Bernie Sanders?" Lol.
Can I interrupt this thread with a Berner complaint of my own? The Berners in my life are all CONSPIRACY over the fact that the news is not covering Bernie any more. The Clinton News Network is suppressing his message!!!ELEVENTY!!
JHC people. There's no conspiracy. Bernie has just been giving the same fucking speech about the Billionaire Class for the last year, and there's nothing to report.
I like Bernie, but he really needs some new material.
Can I interrupt this thread with a Berner complaint of my own? The Berners in my life are all CONSPIRACY over the fact that the news is not covering Bernie any more. The Clinton News Network is suppressing his message!!!ELEVENTY!!
JHC people. There's no conspiracy. Bernie has just been giving the same fucking speech about the Billionaire Class for the last year, and there's nothing to report.
I like Bernie, but he really needs some new material.
Also, to be fair, I haven't seen a ton on Clinton lately, either. I mean, the Democratic race - Bernie Bros aside - is pretty fucking boring. It's two people who have relatively similar political beliefs but some practical policy differences making speeches about why they are best.
Meanwhile, we've got Carson saying he's receiving classified information, Chris Christie saying he'll go to war with Russia, Vladimir Putin praising Donald Trump, and Jeb (huh) making everyone feel embarrassed every time he attempts a "joke."