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1) I've been going back and reading dozens of articles about the Dec 2015 NGP VAN data breach where #Bernie's campaign viewed & stole #Clinton's voter #data due to a glitch in the #software. Here's a long, long thread describing what happened. https://www.wired.com/2015/12/sanders-clinton-data/
2) For unknown (and in hindsight, suspicious) reasons, on 12/16/15 the NGP VAN voter database software used by all Democratic campaigns released an update which contained a bug, allowing campaigns to have access to other campaigns' data. https://blog.ngpvan.com/news/data-security-and-privacy
3) Though the glitch was only active for several hours, Sanders' Director of Data Josh Uretsky immediately stumbled upon Clinton campaign's most valuable voter data. Rather than reporting the issue to the DNC, he decided to snoop around with his team. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/22/bernie-s/Sanders-take-Clinton-voter-data/
4) An audit of server logs showed that at least 4 staffers had searched for ~15 states' worth of voter data that Hillary's campaign had compiled. Access was granted/shared to users: UretskyJ, rdrapkinNH, anikseresht, HawleyBrett, talani, javiergNV. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/merged_document.pdf
5) At no point did the Sanders campaign alert the DNC or NGP VAN. They spent about 45 minutes actively searching and generating lists of Hillary's most and least likely voters in the following states: HI, AL, AZ, TX, NH, OH, SC, IA, NV, CO, AR, FL, VA, UT, TN.
6) Robby Mook: "The Sanders campaign has tried to downplay what this means, so I want to be very, very clear: This was data that took millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to build." https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/263791-clinton-campaign-says-sanders-staff-may-have-broken-law
7) NGP VAN alerted the DNC of the unauthorized data access, and the DNC reached out to both campaigns. Sanders campaign claims this was the first they'd heard of the breach, and without any audit logs, how were they supposed to know what happened? https://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-data-breach-217019
8) Jeff Weaver immediately flips this and accuses NGP VAN of repeated data breaches that have put their data at risk. He claimed his campaign had alerted them of this same thing happening back in October. NGP VAN said absolutely false. http://thebernreport.com/statement-by-jeff-weaver-bernie-sanders-2016-campaign-manager/
9) The DNC cuts off Sanders access to the database while they investigate the breach. All hell breaks loose. Within 24 hours, Weaver & Tad Devine were on TV constantly spinning the narrative that the mean DNC took away their data access for NO REASON. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-12-18/tad-devine-dnc-s-grinding-our-campaign-to-a-halt
10) Josh Uretsky is fired on the 19th and Weaver blamed the DNC for giving him a recommendation when they hired him.
âItâs not as if we conjured this guy Josh from thin air. This is an individual ⊠who was recommended to us by the DNC and NGP VANâ https://iowastartingline.com/2015/12/26/deconstructing-the-latest-dnc-data-conspiracy-theory/
âItâs not as if we conjured this guy Josh from thin air. This is an individual ⊠who was recommended to us by the DNC and NGP VANâ https://iowastartingline.com/2015/12/26/deconstructing-the-latest-dnc-data-conspiracy-theory/
11) And then THEY SUED THE DNC.
For "breach of contract" because the DNC allowed this 3rd party vendor to operate this unsecured database software therefore it's their fault. And their contract required 10 days' notice before disconnecting data access.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/1-main.pdf
For "breach of contract" because the DNC allowed this 3rd party vendor to operate this unsecured database software therefore it's their fault. And their contract required 10 days' notice before disconnecting data access.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/1-main.pdf
12) In a truly Machiavellian fashion, Tad Devine turned Bernie into the victim of the crime his campaign had committed. By blatantly lying to and misleading Bernie's supporters, they fundraised millions of dollars from this "unfair injustice". http://bluemassgroup.com/2015/12/sanders-campaign-spins-ngp-van-datagate-but-loses-its-soul/
13) "The Sanders campaign ... has gone on the warpath Friday claiming that the DNC overreacted and is trying to aid Clintonâs campaign.â Sandersâ team only had hours to prepare the lawsuit, shown in some typographical errors present in the court filing. https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party
14) "They added that the Clinton campaign views this as a big deal but will not say so publicly because it will fan the flames of liberal groups trying to fight with the DNC." Remember: Clinton is the actual victim here. https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-dnc-suspension/
15) In the lawsuit, Bernie's campaign alleges that in the 2008 primaries, the exact same situation happened, except it was Hillary stealing Obama's data. There is no evidence or record of this happening and seems to be completely fabricated. https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party
16) Crowdstrike was the company hired by the DNC to conduct the investigation. You might remember them from their investigation into the hack of the DNC servers by Russia. Little has been published about their actual findings. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/bernie-sanders-dnc-lawsuit-campaign-222659
17) On 12/19/15, the DNC reinstated Sanders' data access. According to the DNC press release, the campaign had complied with all their requests. In all, the Sanders campaign was without access for just under 48 hours. https://democrats.org/news/dnc-chair-statement-on-voter-file-access/
18) And that was basically the last time the media ever touched that story. Devine & Weaver did such a good job of playing the victim that this story is barely known at all. Can you imagine if a Clinton staffer stole Bernie's data??
19) But I have so many more questions:
-How did Uretsky stumble upon his access to Clinton's data?
-Did someone tell him?
-This glitch is apparently the only blemish on a 19 year record for the software. Was it intentional?
-How did Uretsky stumble upon his access to Clinton's data?
-Did someone tell him?
-This glitch is apparently the only blemish on a 19 year record for the software. Was it intentional?
20) More questions
-Why weren't the other staffers fired?
-What about Ali Nikseresht?
-What about Hawley Brett?
-What about Russell Drapkin?
-What about Javier Gonzalez?
-What about "talani" and "csmith" and "csanchez"?
-Why weren't the other staffers fired?
-What about Ali Nikseresht?
-What about Hawley Brett?
-What about Russell Drapkin?
-What about Javier Gonzalez?
-What about "talani" and "csmith" and "csanchez"?
21) And maybe most damningly, why did Guccifer2.0 (Russia) "talk" about this incident at a hacking conference? I recommend reading this whole transcript. But the part that jumps out to me... https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2016/09/13/hacker-guccifer-2-0-dnc-hacker-london-slags-tech-companies/#a913c166549d
22) "You may remember Josh Uretsky, the national data director for Sander's presidential campaign. He was fired in December, 2015 after improperly accessing proprietary data in the DNC system...
23) ...As it was agreed, he was intentionally searching for voter information belonging to other campaigns."
End.
End.
