Sanders Campaign Withdraws Lawsuit Against DNC Over Data Breach

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse on the University of Pittsburgh campus, Monday, April 25, 2016, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign said Friday it has withdrawn a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee alleging the organization wrongly denied the campaign access to its database of voter information.

The lawsuit, filed late last year, came after the DNC abruptly cut the Sanders campaign’s access to the database after finding a Sanders campaign worker improperly accessed proprietary data from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

In a statement released Friday, the Sanders campaign strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

“The Sanders campaign never ‘stole’ any voter file data; the Sanders campaign never ‘exported’ any unauthorized voter file data; and the Sanders campaign certainly never had access to the Clinton campaign’s ‘strategic road map,’” the campaign said.

After the breach, Sanders himself apologized and his campaign fired its data director and suspended two other staffers, but accused the DNC of preferential treatment of Clinton for holding its own data “hostage.”

The DNC eventually restored its access to the information trove, which includes information gathered by the Sanders campaign.

This story has been updated.

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  1. “The Sanders campaign (says) never ‘stole’ any voter file data; the Sanders campaign never ‘exported’ any unauthorized voter file data; and the Sanders campaign certainly never had access to the Clinton campaign’s ‘strategic road map,’"

    I say bullshit!

    “After the breach, Sanders himself apologized”

  2. Good. I’m very glad to hear Sanders has regained a little common sense and decency.

    The lawsuit, filed late last year, came after the DNC abruptly cut the Sanders campaign’s access to the database after finding a Sanders campaign worker inadvertently accessed proprietary data from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

    Not true. Once that worker was in, s/he kept on searching. Once the wall was breached, the worker should have stopped and notified the DNC – but s/he didn’t do that, s/he continued to search through Clinton’s proprietary data.

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    Maybe I’m just being naive, but I see it as extending an olive branch. His way of saying he knows it’s over and, while staying in the race, he’ll rein in some of the harsher rhetoric.

  4. You know it!

  5. I think you’re right. I’m guessing this is Sanders’ way of starting to wind down his campaign and ease his way into “supporting” HRClinton for POTUS when the time comes. I’ve never believed Sen. Bernie Sanders to be evil–far from it–but I do believe he got drunk on his own rhetoric and the great success of his campaign. Sanders has had a good run, but now is the time to wind it down, stop punching so hard and stop it with the personal attacks. Thank you, Sen. Sanders, for withdrawing this suit.

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