Breaking: Sanders Manager Says DNC Has ‘Stolen’ Campaign Data And Will Go To Court Today If Not Released

The Bernie Sanders campaign is accusing the DNC of “trying to help the Clinton campaign.”

Today news broke that at least one Bernie Sanders campaign staffer had inappropriately accessed Hillary Clinton‘s information on a database they leased from the DNC. That staffer was fired, campaign manager Jeff Weaver said, and an internal investigation had been conducted.

In response, the DNC suspended the Sanders campaign’s ability to access the database, causing great difficulty to the Sanders campaign ability to fundraise and reach out to supporters.

“By their action the leadership of the DNC is now attempting to undermine our campaign,” Weaver accused at a press conference that just ended.

“If the DNC continues to hold our data hostage… we will be in federal court this afternoon seeking relief.”

“We don’t need dirty tricks,” Weaver added, insisting they don’t want Clinton’s data.

He is asking for an independent investigation and says they have done an internal investigation.

“No data that I’m aware of was exported in a way that could be used by anybody.”

UPDATE: Breaking: Bernie Sanders Sues DNC

Weaver accused the DNC of “taking our campaign hostage.”

And Weaver made an exceptionally strong accusation.

“We need our data which has been stolen by the DNC.”

Weaver also made clear his belief that the DNC has been working to advance Hillary Clinton’s campaign while making decisions that might scuttle the Sanders campaign, including the scheduling of Democratic debates at times, like this coming Saturday night, that make it less likely a large audience will be able or willing to watch.

NBC News today reports that “documents obtained and reviewed by NBC News appeared to show that at least four individuals affiliated with the Sanders campaign conducted searches and saved the Clinton campaign’s lists of potential voters over a period of more than forty minutes.”

The data breach “happened after a software error at the technology company NGP VAN, which provides campaigns with voter data.”

DNC spokesman Luis Miranda said, “all users on the system across the Democratic campaigns were inadvertently able to access some data belonging to other campaigns for a brief window.” 

It is not known if the Clinton or O’Malley campaigns also inappropriately accessed data from their opponents.