Commendation to DE for Its Abolition of the Death Penalty

Delaware is the 20th state to prohibit execution.

In Nebraska, application of the ban on capital punishment is postponed because an initiative to restore it will appear on the ballot there on November 8.  The campaign against that initiative is Retain a Just Nebraska.

Why Bernie's Voters Should Reject His Endorsement of Hillary

Sanders
(Gage Skidmore)

True to his word, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) campaigned through the final weeks of Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses.  In that period, most of the party's establishment along with most of the corporate media, after a year of their attempts to halt his candidacy, lost their patience with it and very publicly so.

A conceivable reason was that the months-old assertion by which Sanders retained no mathematical possibility to acquire the majority of pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention was still false until June 7.  Another such reason was that ex-sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) remained under federal criminal investigation and, if she had been indicted and had terminated her candidacy as a result, the elite would have preferred for Sanders to be out of the mix.  That way, the pledged delegates Clinton had garnered and the pro-Clinton super-delegates could have used his withdrawal as an excuse to hand the nomination to someone who shares Clinton's devotion to the status-quo.

Regardless of the reason(s), the breaking point was hit during the Democratic Nevadan Conv. on May 15, where leaders of the state party cheated Sanders out of several delegates to the national convention.  Corporate media and many Democratic bigwigs, in a distraction from that unfairness, falsely claimed that Sanders's delegates to the state convention committed violence (such as by throwing chairs) while at it.  One of the surrogates for Clinton who were there was Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), whose former son-in-law is Clinton's brother.  Boxer subsequently and falsely alleged Sanders's delegates caused her to fear for her physical safety during the event.

Corporate media then reported that the chairperson of the Democratic Party of Nevada received threats of violence that were from people we were expected to assume were pro-Sanders.  A possibility that was largely ignored was that the threats were trickery by backers of Republican nominee Donald Trump or of Clinton.  She has experience in such tactics.  For instance, the super-PAC with which her campaign directly coordinates -- and that political hitman David Brock heads -- had begun to pay for operatives to, without disclosing their employment, harass backers of Sanders online.  Furthermore, Clinton has paid -- including with public money -- for fake followers on social media.  And her campaign staff planted questioners at town-hall-style meetings.

Clinton (Gage Skidmore)

Nonetheless, corporate media and establishment Democrats -- after their demand for Sanders to condemn the nonexistent violence succeeded -- slammed his condemnation as inadequate.  (Prominent allies of Clinton exploited the situation to defame his supporters by comparing them to Trump's followers and to Birchers.)  Yet, there was no demand for Clinton -- who is delighted by war, defends gun culture, and sold weapons to oppressive regimes -- to denounce violence after

• a bullet pierced a window at the headquarters of Sanders's campaign in NV.
• a prominent supporter of hers was charged with battery that was allegedly in reaction to a pro-Sanders comment.
• Nicholas Silitch, who was and remains on the Democratic Committee of New York and backed Clinton for the nomination, assaulted Moumita Ahmed when she was a delegate for Sanders.

On May 17, Sanders pulled a huge upset in the Oregonian primary.  The same day, he exceeded expectations when he finished four-tenths of a percentage point behind Clinton in the Kentuckian primary, which she had won by 36 points eight years ago.  This year, her victory in it came at great expense.

On May 19, Clinton crowned herself the nominee.  She thereby dismissed the votes that would be cast in the rest of the contests.  They would include those in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, California and the District of Columbia, all of whose populations are majority nonwhite.  The corporate media gave a pass to Clinton about that, in stark contrast to when many of them pretended Sanders's description of the South as conservative was a dismissal of the black vote.  Said propaganda mostly excluded any reference to the following facts.  (For this entry, the South is defined as AL, AR, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX and VA.  There was no exit poll for LA's primary.)

• Although Sanders lost the Southern black vote, he also lost the Southern white vote, and not by a little.  In the Southern states except North Carolina, Clinton's margin of victory among whites ranged from 8 to 37 points.  Ergo, if Sanders was dismissive of the black vote, he was also dismissive of the white vote.
• While Sanders won among whites in NC by 8 points, Clinton won among its conservatives by 21.  Her margin of victory among conservatives in South-Carolina, Georgia and Florida ranged from 44 to 47.  Hence, the Southern conservative vote was indeed unfavorable to the socialist contender.
• Clinton, during her previous campaign, dismissed the black vote.

Boxer (US Senate
Photographic Studio)

On May 23, Clinton violated her agreement to a 10th debate with Sanders.  That breach was despite this comment from when she called for what would have been literally the 27th debate between her and then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).

"[The presidency] is the most important [and] the toughest job in the world.  [Each presidential candidate] should be willing to... debate anytime, anywhere...  I have been willing to do... that during the entire process."
Clinton to The Argus Leader, 23 May 2008

On May 26, Inspector General Steven Linick of the Department of State issued a report about Clinton's use of her personal email-system for the work she did there.  Each of the following three remarks precedes what the IG found about it.

"[T]he laws and regulations in effect when I was secretary of State allowed me to use my [personal email-system] for work...  I fully complied with every rule by which I was governed."
Clinton at a news conference, 10 March 2015

That is false.  Clinton disregarded official "memoranda that specifically discussed the obligation to use Dept. systems in most circumstances and identified the risks of not using those systems...  Throughout... Clinton's tenure, the Foreign Affairs Manual stated that normal day-to-day operations should be conducted on an authorized automated information system.  Yet, the Office of the IG found no evidence of any request by or obtainment by [Clinton] of guidance to or approval to conduct official business via... her private server.

"According to the current chief information officer and assistant secretary for Diplomatic Security, ...Clinton was obligated to discuss with their offices the use of her personal email-account to conduct official business, and their offices in turn would have attempted to provide her with approved and secured means...  However, according to these officials, because of... the FAM and the security risks..., the Bureau of DS and the Bureau of Information Resource Management did not approve -- and would not have approved -- her exclusive reliance on a personal email-account...

"During... Clinton's tenure, the FAM... instructed employees that they were expected to use approved, secure methods to transmit sensitive but unclassified information and that, if they needed to transmit SBU information outside the Department's OpenNet network on a regular basis to non-Departmental addresses, employees should request a solution from IRM.  However, OIG found no evidence of... any contact by Clinton with IRM to request such a solution, even though... her personal account regularly contained information marked as SBU...

Linick (Committee on
Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs)

"[T]he FAM... required that employees who process SBU information on their own devices ensure that appropriate... safeguards are maintained to protect the confidentiality and integrity of records and to, with products certified by the Nat'l Institute of Standards & Technology, ensure encryption of SBU information...  Clinton's website states that 'robust protections... and additional upgrades and techniques were employed over time as they became available...'  DS and IRM reported to OIG that... Clinton never demonstrated to them that her private server or mobile device met minimum information-security requirements specified by the Federal Information Security Management Act and the FAM."

"I'm happy to answer any questions anybody might have."
Clinton, in reference to her email-system, on Meet the Press, NBC, 3 April

That is false.  Of the five latest secretaries of State, Clinton is the only one who refused to cooperate with the probe by the IG and his staff.  The question of why was given this response:

"What they wanted to ask, we had already talked about in the public arena...  The practice was used by other secretaries of State."
Clinton on Special Report, Fox News, 8 June

That is false.  How could she have known which questions those inspectors would have asked?  Why would they have asked any question to which they already knew the answer?  Anyhow, the IG found that Clinton is the only person who, as secretary of State, used a personal server for any work-related e-mails.  He also found she is the only person who, as secretary of State, used a private account for all work-related e-mails.

There would be six contests on June 7, including the primary in CA, which is this country's most populous state.  Because Sanders had a considerable chance to win there -- and because, as was clear, neither candidate would amass enough pledged delegates in order to secure the nomination before the super-delegates would vote at the national convention -- he planned to extend his bid until that event by arguing to the super-delegates that he would be more likely to beat Trump than Clinton would.  In continuation of a long trend, the last eight polls to test that argument validated it.  A cornerstone of it was Sanders's popularity among independents, which was made obvious by ones who had already voted in primaries and caucuses.

As the series of huge crowds that gathered for the ex-mayor of Burlington extended, corporate media's own frustration with him boiled over at a news conference on June 6.  Upon completion of his initial statement, he called on Jeffrey Zeleny of CNN, who was directly in front of Sanders.  Little did he know that Yamiche Alcindor of The NY Times, who was to the side, had decided nothing would stop her from asking the first question.

She interjected, "What do you say to women who say--"
Sanders told her, "Excuse me."
"What do you say to women--"
"Excuse me.  Yes."
"What do you say to women who--"
"Excuse me."
"--say for you to stay in the race--"
"Excuse me."
"What do you say to women who say for you--"
"Excuse me!"
"--to stay in the race--"
"Excuse me, ma'am!"
"I'm asking a question!"
"Well, other hands are up as well.  Jeffrey, do you have a question?"
Zeleny deferred, so Alcindor proceeded, "What do you say to women who say for you to stay in the race is sexist because you're in the way of what could be the first female president?"
"Is that a serious question?"
"Yes, it is a serious question."
"Your question implies any woman who runs for president is, by definition, the best candidate.  So if Hillary Clinton runs for president, is your point that for any man to oppose her is sexist?"
"No.  My point is: if she will have more delegates than you do tomorrow and you stay in the race, is it sexist?"
"I don't think [so...  To] defeat Donald Trump is absolutely imperative...  I am the strongest candidate [for that task]."

Obama with Clinton's husband
(Peter Souza / White House)

By that night, Clinton won the Puerto Rican primary (by 14 fewer points than in 2008) and thereby scored her third victory that was amid widespread disfranchisement.  (Democratic officials in the territory falsely blamed on Sanders's campaign the reduction in polling locations from 1,510 to 455.)

Weeks earlier, Sanders straightforwardly announced he would vote against the creation of the majority-Republican board that now controls the finances of Puerto Rico but includes no one elected by its people.  Clinton claimed to "have serious concerns about several provisions in this bill" but added "we must move forward with" it.

Sanders's collection of 38% of the vote on that island (whose population is 99% Latino) is yet more evidence to disprove the narrative that states his candidacy drew virtually no support from nonwhites.  Said narrative overlooks Clinton's inferior record on racial justice and insinuates Sanders's campaign was somehow racist.  For example:

"[T]he Sanders insurgency is largely a white revolution.  All the talk about Sanders as a representative of the future of the Democratic Party because of his overwhelming popularity among young people leaves out an important caveat: He could not persuade minority voters to sign on.  In many ways, a Sanders victory, propelled by the least diverse states in the nation, would have been a step backward in American race relations." 
Issac Bailey
"...Sanders Exposed the Democrats' Racial Rift," Politico, 8 June

Among the facts Bailey omits from his piece because they invalidate his argument:

• NBC's analysis of 25 of the 27 entrance/exit polls that were conducted in this cycle found that Sanders won among blacks under age 30 in those 25 states even though Clinton carried 20 of them.
• Sanders won the nonwhite vote in New Hampshire and won the Latino vote in Illinois.
• The theory that stated he actually lost the Latino vote in NV was debunked.
• Sanders attained a landslide in Hawaii, which is the least white state in the Union (and is a state in which no entrance/exit poll was conducted).

DeMoro
("Democracy Now!")

The aforementioned narrative is racist, as another false one, according to which Sanders's candidacy drew very little support from women and was therefore to be deemed misogynistic, is sexist.  On account of color and/or sex, both narratives not only dismiss millions of voters but ignore their very existence and therefore constitute an attempt to render them silenced, invisible, and excluded from history.

Back to June 6:  Corporate media undermined Sanders's candidacy again as The NY Times, USA Today, NBC and CNN joined the Associated Press to falsely declare Clinton had clinched the nomination.

The next day, Sanders achieved a landslide in the North Dakotan caucuses and prevailed in the Montanan primary but placed second in CA by 7.1 points (1.2 fewer than those by which Clinton won there previously).  There were no additional caucuses and he was defeated in the remainder of the primaries.  Because his campaign was devoid of the momentum that would have come from a victory in the Golden State, Sanders abandoned the effort to persuade super-delegates.

Nevertheless, he remained an official candidate so delegates of his would have a role in the formation of the Democratic platform.  However, it is nonbinding.  And Sanders's choice of RoseAnn DeMoro -- who is executive director of the labor union Nat'l Nurses United -- to serve on the platform drafting committee was blocked by the Democratic Nat'l Committee, which then explained no leader of any labor union would be allowed to help draft the platform.

Sanders also kept his promise to back whomever the Democratic nominee would be.  Here are several reasons why the people who voted for Sanders should not follow suit.  Some of the facts that support these points are mentioned above, appear in previous entries, and/or can be applied to multiple points.


1)  The continued disrespect from Clinton and her surrogates is incongruous with her supposed desire for support from Sanders and from the people who voted for him.

On CNN on the eve of NY's primary, ex-governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) and NAACP ex-president Benjamin Jealous debated on behalf of Clinton and Sanders, respectively.  Amid the exchange, Granholm mocked Jealous's stutter.

Manchin (David Vergun/
Dept. of the Army)

This reference to Sanders came a day later.

"We kicked his ass tonight...  I hope this convinces Bernie to tone it down.  If not, f**k him."
A senior aide of Clinton's, quoted in Politico

Shortly after Clinton cowered out of her agreement to debate Sanders in CA, Trump declared he would do so in her stead.  Sanders accepted.  This is how some of her surrogates reacted, as quoted in Politico.

"Bullsh**.  That confirms what we've been saying.  Why would you expect Bernie to be considerate, be nice, or work to bring everyone together?"
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Oh, the irony!

"I don't know why [Sanders] would do that.  I think this is the time to start to wind down the primary."  -Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI)

"It's all about Bernie trying to get the advantage in CA.  It won't work."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

"What [Sanders] is trying to do... is bring attention to himself." 
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Remarks like that from earlier in the race explain why The New Yorker published this satire.  Well, Trump eventually cowered out of the agreement, although at least we can observe what would have happened had he kept it.

After Clinton's husband painted Sanders as subconsciously sexist, this was uttered:

"[A] psychologist... said the young people look at Bernie as their grandpa.  'Oh, he's my grandpa and he'll do great things for me.'"
Boxer on Leading Ladies, SiriusXM, 31 May

Does that mean the grandparents who voted for him did so because he reminds them of themselves?

On June 5, Clinton's husband told backers of Sanders they were soon to "be toast."

At the national convention, which was held July 25-29, agents of the Democratic Nat'l Committee

• refused to honor the request some of Sanders's delegates made for the necessary paperwork to nominate a candidate for vice president.
• abruptly nixed the speech in which former state senator Nina Turner (D-OH) would have helped to place Sanders's name into nomination for president.
• turned off the lights on Sanders's delegation from OR when that delegation chanted for peace.
• coordinated, with mixed success, to drown out Sanders's delegates.
• threatened to, and sometimes did, remove delegates who displayed signs that were pro-Sanders or against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a potential free-trade pact that Clinton publicly supported and now unconvincingly claims to oppose).

Turner
("Democracy Now!")

Hundreds of Sanders's delegates, in reaction to such tactics, walked out immediately after Clinton was nominated and/or as she accepted the nomination.


2) Clinton's candidacy is stuck to numerous time-bombs.

Any of these could result in destruction of her chance of victory.

• The Clinton Foundation is under audit by the IRS.
• There is possibly a federal probe into whether Clinton, as secretary, did special favors for ex-employees of the foundation and/or was corrupted by speaking-fees to her husband or by donations to it.
• The investigation by the Dept. of State into Clinton's use of her personal email-system for work she did there is reopened.  By the way, she still refuses to cooperate with that probe.
• There are dozens of lawsuits that seek facts about said use.
• There is possibly a federal investigation into whether Clinton committed perjury in testimony about said use.
• The founder of WikiLeaks guarantees future disclosures about Clinton.
• According to Mika Brzezinski, who is the daughter of former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and is co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, a journalist is in possession of transcripts of at least two of the speeches Clinton delivered to financial firms for $225,000 apiece.  (Clinton owns transcripts of all said speeches, yet refuses to release any of them.)
• There are federal investigations into close allies of Clinton -- specifically Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), Gov. Terence McAuliffe (D-VA), Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-CT) and Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC).

At the convention, super-delegates for Clinton included that trio of governors as well as Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) while the latter two were under federal indictment for corruption.  Ex-rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) and former Assembly-speaker Sheldon Silver (D-NY), after they were convicted on federal counts of corruption, resigned as super-delegates for Clinton. 

Duda (Dept. of State)

Something else that might help sink Clinton's candidacy is the ineptitude she and surrogates of hers continue to demonstrate.

"Poland and Hungary, which are two countries that would not be free but for the United States and the long Cold War, have now decided... democracy is too much trouble.  They want... authoritarian dictatorship [that will] keep the foreigners out."
Clinton's husband in a speech, 13 May

That remark was condemned by Pres. Andrzej Duda of Poland, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo of Poland, and Foreign Min. Péter Szijjártó of Hungary, and sparked protest by Polish-Americans.

"There are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women."
Ex-gov. Edward Rendell (D-PA) on why Trump is at a disadvantage
Quoted in "Trump's Appeal Stretches to Suburbs...," The Washington Post, 18 May

Then came this advice:

"More than 90% of [Democrats] who served [in Congress] with both [Democratic candidates] endorse Hillary.  If you believe th[at is] because the[ congresspeople who endorse her are] part of some corrupt political establishment..., you should not vote for her."
Clinton's husband in a speech, 20 May

Okay.


3)  Sanders is on the left.  Clinton is on the right.

Clinton used to be candid about her ideology.  (All boldface in this entry is added.)

"I feel like my political beliefs are rooted in the conservatism with which I was raised...  I'm very proud I was a Goldwater Girl."
Clinton on Weekend Edition, NPR, 13 January 1996

Rendell (EPA)

That was a reference to her time on the presidential campaign of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), who pledged to use nuclear weaponry, was hostile to labor unions, and opposed

• Medicare and mandatory Social Security
• progressive taxation and all public welfare programs
• the Civil Rights Act and the decision by the Supreme Court to order desegregation of public schools
• the censure of then-Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) for abuses in a domestic witch-hunt of alleged communists
• membership of the US in the United Nations.

On page 21 of her autobiography Living History (2003), Clinton again expresses pride in her support for the nominee who endeavored to unseat Pres. Lyndon Johnson.

"I was... a Goldwater Girl right down to my cowgirl outfit and straw cowboy hat emblazoned with the slogan 'AuH₂O'...  I liked Senator Goldwater because he was a rugged individualist who swam against the political tide."

Naturally, the best indicator of her values is the record of her deeds as a public official.  Yet, that points rightward also.  Now -- after a primary campaign in which Clinton and many of her surrogates depicted Sanders as so far to her left that he was "unelectable" -- she and her surrogates try to convince his supporters that she and he are essentially the same on the issues.  Part of that argument is that the former rivals' voting records are 93% the same.  That statistic is highly misleading because

• it is based only on 2007 and 2008, which were the years during which Clinton and Sanders both served in the Senate.  Alas, none of the following are taken into account: the votes in which Sanders participated and on which Clinton opined during her eight years as first lady, the legislation on which both houses of Congress voted during the six years throughout which he was in the House of Representatives and she was a senator, and the disagreements between Sanders and Clinton during her four years in the Cabinet.
• votes that were procedural and/or (near-)unanimous are taken into account.
• from 2007-08, Sanders missed 0.9% of votes while Clinton missed 31.7%.

Kaine (Erin Kirk-Cuomo/
Dept. of Defense)

Some people who acknowledge Clinton's real record tell Sanders's supporters that Clinton is newly acceptable because Sanders somehow "moved her to the left."  However, she denies that assertion, stated she will not adopt any of Sanders's policies, and chose one of her fellow center-rightists to run for vice president -- namely Sen. Timothy Kaine (D-VA).  Clinton and Kaine are corrupt, support free trade, oppose strict regulation of the financial sector, and have a mediocre record on reproductive freedom, on the environment and on labor.

No wonder the Democratic ticket is favored by everyone on this [updated] list:

• ex-pres. George Herbert Walker Bush: vice pres., Reagan adm.
• John Negroponte: dir. of Nat'l Intel., dep. secy. of State, amb. to UN, amb. to Iraq, Bush-Cheney adm.; amb. to Mexico, Bush-Quayle adm.; amb. to Honduras (aided the Contras), dep. nat'l security advisor, Reagan adm.; dir. for Vietnam on Nat'l Security Council, Nixon adm.
• Richard Armitage: dep. secy. of State, Bush-Cheney adm.; asst. secy. of Defense, Reagan adm.; dir., ConocoPhillips; exposed the identity of covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson of the CIA after her husband disproved part of the case G.W. Bush made for the invasion of Iraq
• ex-gov. Abner Linwood Holton Jr. (R-VA): asst. secy. of State, Nixon adm.
• Robert Blackwill: dep. asst. secy. of State, Reagan adm.; special asst. to the pres., Bush-Quayle adm.; dep. nat'l security adv., dep. asst. to the pres., Bush-Cheney adm.
• Richard Holwill: amb. to Ecuador, dep. asst. secy. of State, Reagan adm.; fmr. vice pres. of gov't info., the Heritage Foundation
• Robert Tuttle: amb. to UK, Bush-Cheney adm.; special asst. to the pres., Reagan adm.
• Donald Gregg: amb. to S. Korea, Bush-Quayle adm.; nat'l security adv. to VP Bush
• ex-rep. Constance Morella (R-MD): amb. to the Org. for Econ. Cooperation & Devel., Bush-Cheney adm.
• Matthew Waxman: dep. asst. secy. of Defense, acting dir. of policy planning at Dept. of State, special asst. to the nat'l security adv., Bush-Cheney adm.
• Daniel Twining: policy planner at Dept. of State, Bush-Cheney adm.; ex-adv., Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
• James Clad: dep. asst. secy. of Defense, Bush-Cheney adm.
• Michael Donley: secy. of the Air Force, Bush-Cheney adm.
• Michael Chertoff: secy. of Homeland Security, asst. attorney gen., Bush-Cheney adm.; nominated by G.W. Bush to Ct. of Appeals and by G.H.W. Bush to be a US atty.
• Charles Fried: solicitor gen., Reagan adm.
• Henry Paulson Jr.: secy. of the Treasury, Bush-Cheney adm.; fmr. chairperson/CEO, Goldman Sachs
• Frederick Goldberg Jr.: asst. secy. of the Treasury, Bush-Quayle adm. 
• Carlos Gutierrez: secy. of Commerce, Bush-Cheney adm.; dir., Occidental Petroleum; dir., Metropolitan Life Insurance; dir., Time Warner
• Franklin Lavin: undersecy. of Commerce, Bush-Cheney adm.; dir. of the Office of Political Affairs at White House, Reagan adm.
• Roger Wallace: dep. undersecy. of Commerce, Bush-Quayle adm.; dep. co-chairperson, Reagan 1980
• Carla Hills: secy. of Housing and Urban Devel., Ford adm.; trade rep., Bush-Quayle adm.; int'l council of J.P. Morgan Chase
• Warren Chase: Trade Negotiations Advisory Cmte., Reagan adm.; adv., Romney '12
• Michael Browne: dep. undersecy. of Transportation, Ford adm.
• ex-gov. Christine Whitman (R-NJ): admin. of EPA, Bush-Cheney adm.
• fmr. state rep. William Ruckelshaus (R-IN, majority ldr.): admin. of EPA, Nixon & Reagan adms.; asst. atty. gen., Nixon adm.; fmr. senatorial nominee (R-IN)
• William Reilly: admin. of EPA, Bush-Quayle adm.
• Alan Steinberg: regional admin. of EPA, Bush-Cheney adm.; del., Cruz 2016
• Douglas Elmets: dep. asst. secy. of Energy, White House spokesperson for domestic issues, staff asst. to special asst. to the pres. Lee Atwater, Reagan adm.; special asst. to the dir., Reagan 1984
• Louis Sullivan: secy. of Health & Human Services, Bush-Quayle adm.
• William Pierce: dep. asst. secy. of HHS, Bush-Cheney adm.; press secy. to then-Reps. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), William Thomas (R-CA)
• David Frum: presidential speechwriter, Bush-Cheney adm.
• Phillip Brady: dep. asst. to VP Bush; dep. counsel to the pres., Reagan adm.; staff secy. to the pres., Bush-Quayle adm.; sr. VP of governmental affairs, Phillips 66
• James Cicconi: dep. chief of staff at White House, Bush-Quayle adm.; special asst. to the pres., Reagan adm.; adv., Bush 1988/1992; sr. exec. VP, AT&T
• Charles Nicholas Rostow: special asst. to the pres., Reagan & Bush-Quayle adms.
• Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Ashley Tellis: special assts. to the pres., Bush-Cheney adm.
• Lezlee Westine: dep. asst. to the pres., Bush-Cheney adm.
• Richard Painter: associate counsel to the pres., chief counsel for ethics at White House, Bush-Cheney adm.
• ex-sen. David Durenberger (R-MN): pled guilty on five counts of theft of public funds while in office and was unanimously denounced by the Senate for other violations of law and of senatorial rules of ethics
• ex-sens. John Warner (R-VA), Larry Pressler (R-SD)
• Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY); ex-reps. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), John Schwarz (R-MI), Claudine Schneider (R-RI), Christopher Shays (R-CT)
  
• ex-govs. William Milliken (R-MI), Arne Carlson (R-MN)
• fmr. atty. gen. Grant Woods (R-AZ): chief of staff, then-Rep. McCain
• fmr. state sen. and fmr. lieut. gubernatorial nominee Howard Denis (R-MD): state co-chairperson, Giuliani 2008; state leader, Kasich 2016
• fmr. state sen. Jack McGregor (R-PA): co-chairperson, transition cmte. for then-Gov.-elect John Rowland (R-CT); finance cmte., Rowland 1998; fmr. COO, Carey Energy; ex-dir., Bay State Gas
• fmr. state sen. Michael Balboni (R-NY), State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez (R-NH)
• fmr. state rep. David Irvine (R-UT): ex-chairperson, Republican Party of Davis County; chief of staff, then-Rep. Merrill Cook (R-UT)
• Mark Salter: fmr. chief of staff, Sen. McCain; adv., McCain 2000
• Vanessa Herman: press secy. to then-Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY)
• Kori Schake: adv., McCain 2008; research fellow, Hoover Institution
• Max Boot: adv., McCain 2008; adv., Romney 2012; adv., Rubio 2016
• Robert Kagan: adv., McCain 2008; adv., Romney 2012
• David Nierenberg: co-chairperson of finance cmte., Romney 2008/2012; fmr. sr. VP, General Electric Venture Capital
• Maria Comella: fmr. dep. chief of staff for communications, Gov. Christopher Christie (R-NJ); press secy., Giuliani 2008; consultant, McCain 2008
• Peter Teeley: press secy. to the Republican Nat'l Cmte.; to G.H.W. Bush as presidential candidate, vice presidential nominee and VP; to Ford 1976; to the late Sens. Jacob Javits (R-NY), Robert Griffin (R-MI)
• Abraham Lackman: dir. of Office of Mgmt. & Budget of NYC, Giuliani adm.; special adv., then-State-Sen. Joseph Bruno (R-NY, majority ldr.)
• Matthew Higgins: press secy. to then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R-NYC)
• billionaire Margaret Whitman: fmr. gubernatorial nominee (R-CA); co-chairperson, McCain 2008; co-chairperson of finance cmte., Christie 2016; pres./CEO, Hewlett-Packard; fmr. pres./CEO, eBay
• billionaire ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg (R-NYC)
• billionaire Warren Buffett: chairperson, Berkshire Hathaway
• billionaire Lloyd Blankfein: chairperson/CEO, Goldman Sachs
• billionaire Mark Cuban: crosses street in order to avoid blacks in hoodies
• billionaire Miguel Fernandez: chairperson/CEO, MBF Healthcare Partners
• billionaire Seth Klarman: pres./CEO, Baupost Group

Paulson with G.W. Bush (Eric Draper / WH)

4) Clinton cannot be trusted to be truthful, to be responsible, or to abide the law.

As the FBI conducted its criminal investigation into how Clinton handled classified material, Pres. Obama tainted that probe by declaring Clinton innocent of endangerment of national security and by endorsing her candidacy.

In a private section of Sky Harbor Int'l Airport in Phoenix on the night of June 27, Clinton's husband delayed his departure in order to await the arrival of Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch, whom he successfully nominated in 1999 to be a US attorney.  When she landed aboard a private plane, he met privately with her and her husband on it for a half-hour.  Meanwhile, FBI agents ordered everyone on the tarmac to refrain from photography.  Via that meeting, Lynch created an appearance of impropriety and thereby violated the rules of ethics of the Dept. of Justice.

After the media found out about the encounter, Lynch told them her conversation with the ex-president was "about grandchildren, ...our travels and... golf he played in Phoenix."  She said the discussion included nothing about the probe for which the FBI would interrogate his wife less than a week later for three and a half hours.  However,

• Clinton's husband did not play golf during that visit to Phoenix.
• I can find no evidence that suggests Lynch is a grandparent or ever participated in said sport.
• the real-estate developer who reportedly hosted Clinton's husband for that visit did not respond to the media's request for comment on this matter.

On July 4, people in touch with Clinton managed to make public that she, if elected, "may decide to retain" Lynch as AG.  Lynch is open to the prospect.

On July 5, Dir. James Comey Jr. of the FBI verbally delivered to reporters the conclusions of his bureau's yearlong probe into whether Clinton's use of her personal email-system included violation of

18 USC §793(f):  Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any... information related to the national defense, through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Bloomberg
(Teddy Wade/
Dept. of the Army)

and/or

18 USC §1924:  Whoever, being an officer... of the United States, and by virtue of his office..., becomes possessed of documents or materials that contain classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

Each of the following five remarks by Clinton or her staff precedes what the FBI found about the subject of the given remark.

"The system... had numerous safeguards...  [T]here were no security breaches."  -Clinton at a news conference, 10 March 2015

Although that might be correct, the safeguards were inappropriately weak and she does not know whether there was any breach.

Comey reported, "None of these e-mails should have been on any unclassified system...  [A]ll of these e-mails were housed on unclassified... servers, not even supported by full-time security staff like those at... the US government or even a commercial email-service...  [W]e did not find direct evidence of a successful hack of Secy. Clinton's personal email-domain in its various configurations since 2009.  But given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we assess we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence.  We do assess hostile actors gained access to the... commercial email-accounts of people with whom Secy. Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account.  We also assess Secy. Clinton's use of a personal email-domain was known by a large number of people and readily apparent.

"She also used her personal e-mail extensively while outside the US, including to send and receive work-related e-mails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries.  Given that combination of factors, we assess hostile actors possibly gained access to Secy. Clinton's personal email-account..."

"This is a politically motivated series of attacks we've seen...  [Rep. Trey] Gowdy [R-SC] and his committee have been dragging this out..."
Clinton spokesperson Karen Finney, asked on CNN about the FBI's probe, 6 August 2015

Negroponte
(Cherie Thurlby / DoD)

That is false.  Comey reported, "This investigation began as a referral from the inspector general of the intelligence community," not from anyone in Congress.

"I never sent or received any classified material.  They are retroactively classifying it."
Clinton in a debate on MSNBC, 4 February

That is false.  Comey reported, "FBI investigators... read all of the approximately 30,000 e-mails Secy. Clinton provided to the State Dept. in 2014...  From the 30,000 e-mails..., 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains... contain[ed] classified information at the time they were sent or received.  Eight of those chains contained information that was top secret at the time, 36 of those chains contained secret information at the time, and eight contained confidential information at the time..."

"Every one of the more than 60,000 e-mails were read [by Clinton's lawyers]."
Clinton press secy. Nicholas Merrill to Time, 14 March 2015

That is false.  Comey reported, "[Clinton's] lawyers... reviewed and sorted her e-mails for production in late 2014.  Her lawyers... did not individually read the content of all her e-mails...  Instead, her lawyers relied on header information and they used search terms to try to find all work-related e-mails among the reportedly more than 60,000 that remained on her system at the end of 2014.  Highly likely is: her lawyers' search missed some work-related e-mails and we later found them...  Also likely is: there are other work-related e-mails that were not produced to State and that we did not find elsewhere, and that are now gone because her lawyers deleted all e-mails they did not produce to State, and her lawyers then cleaned their devices in such a way as to preclude complete forensic recovery...  [W]e're unable to fully reconstruct the electronic record of that sorting..."

"I did not receive any material that was marked or designated classified, which is the way to know whether something is."
Clinton at a news conference, 18 Aug. 2015

That is false.  Comey noted, "[E]ven if information is not marked classified..., participants who know, or should know, the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it...  [W]e also developed evidence of a security culture at the State Dept., in general and with respect to the use of unclassified systems in particular, that generally lacked the kind of care for classified information that is found elsewhere in the US government."

Armitage
(Dept. of State)

Comey additionally revealed:

• "Clinton used several different servers and administrators of them during her four years at the State Department..."
• "Because she did not use a governmental account or... commercial account..., there was no archive of her e-mails..."
• "[S]even e-mail chains concerned matters that were classified under the top secret Special Access Program at the time they were sent and received.  In those chains, Secy. Clinton sent and received e-mails about those matters.  There is evidence to conclude any reasonable person in Secy. Clinton's position... should have known an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.  In addition to this highly sensitive information, we also found information that was properly classified as secret... at the time it was discussed in e-mail..."

Comey stated, despite evidence that established 1) Clinton and colleagues of hers "were extremely careless in how they handled very sensitive, highly classified information" and 2) this case involves "potential violations of the statutes that regard how classified information is handled," the FBI's "judgment is: no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."  The bureau, he elaborated, "did not find clear evidence of intent by Secy. Clinton or by her colleagues to violate laws that govern how classified information is handled."  He added, "When we look back at our investigations into the mishandling of or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support criminal charges on these facts."

Comey also said, "This is not to suggest a person who were to engage in this activity in similar circumstances would face no consequences.  To the contrary, [many of the individuals who have engaged in it were] subject to security sanctions or to administrative sanctions.  But that is not what we're deciding now."

Upon completion of his statement, Comey declined to field questions.

On July 6, Lynch accepted the recommendation against prosecution.

On July 7, Comey testified at a hearing by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  Many Democrats on the committee alleged any and all critical questions about the recommendation were smears against Comey.

Cuomo (Kap Kim,
Combined Joint Task
Force 10 Public Affairs)

However, Clinton has since repeatedly denied certain conclusions Comey had stated.  She has also since denied he stated them.  Moreover, if Comey had recommended indictment, the public could have reasonably expected for Clinton and her surrogates to accuse him of political bias due to his Republican credentials.  That is because in Feb., her surrogates accused Linick of political bias against her even though he, like Comey, had been nominated by Obama and confirmed without a negative vote from any Democratic senator.

Here are excerpts from the aforementioned hearing.  As usual, quotes are edited for clarity and concision.

Gowdy, fmr. federal prosecutor: "...False exculpatory statements are used for what?"
Comey:  "They are used either for the substantive prosecution or for evidence of intent in a criminal prosecution."
Gowdy:  "Exactly.  Intent and consciousness of guilt.  Right?"
Comey:  "Right."
Gowdy:  "In your old job [as a prosecutor], you would prove intent... by showing... evidence of a complex scheme that was designed to conceal the public record, and you would argue... failure to preserve.  You would also argue the pervasiveness of the scheme...  You would argue all of that under the heading of intent.  You would also probably argue the burn-bags of missing daily calendar entries as a common scheme or plan to conceal...  [Clinton] affirmatively rejected efforts to give an e-mail account on state.gov to her.  She kept these... e-mails for almost two years and turned them over to Congress only because we found out she had a... rogue email-system...  That scheme... resulted in destruction of public records.  Yet, you say there is insufficient evidence of intent...  You and I know intent... must be proven with circumstantial evidence...  Congress realizes how difficult the task to prove specific intent is[, which is why] a statute... allows for gross negligence [to be the standard]...  You mentioned there is no precedent for criminal prosecution.  My fear is: there still is not."

Rep. Ronald DeSantis (R-FL), fmr. prosecutor in the Naval JAG Corps:  "In order for Secy. Clinton to access top secret Sensitive Compartmented Information, did she... sign a form... in acknowledgement of her duties and responsibilities, under the law, to safeguard that information?"
Comey:  "Yes..."

McAuliffe (David
Bowman / NASA)

That form, entitled the "Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement," states in part:

I have received a security indoctrination that concerned the nature and protection of SCI, including the procedures to be followed in ascertainment of whether... persons to whom I contemplate disclosure of this information or material have been approved access to it, and I understand these procedures...

I have been advised the unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention, or negligent handling of SCI by me could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation.  I hereby agree I will never divulge anything marked as SCI or that I know to be SCI to anyone who is not authorized to receive it without prior written authorization from the US Government department or agency... that authorized my access to SCI...

I further understand I am obligated by law and regulation not to disclose any classified information or material in an unauthorized fashion...  I have been advised any unauthorized disclosure of SCI by me may constitute violations of US criminal laws, including provisions of Sections 793..., Title 18, US Code...

I understand all information to which I may obtain access by signing this agreement is now and will remain the property of the... Government unless and until otherwise determined by an appropriate official or final ruling of a court of law.  Subject to such determination, I do not now, nor will I ever, possess any right, interest, title, or claim whatsoever to such information.  I agree I shall, upon demand by an authorized representative of the... Government or upon the conclusion of my employment... with the... Government entity that provides my access to such materials, return all materials that may have come into my possession, or for which I am responsible, because of such access.  If I do not return such materials upon request, I understand this may be a violation of Section 793...

I have read this agreement carefully.  My questions, if any, have been answered to my satisfaction.  I acknowledge the briefing officer made available Sections 793...  I make this agreement without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.

HR Clinton, 22 January 2009

I hereby acknowledge I was briefed on the above SCI Special Access Program(s).

HR Clinton, 22 January 2009

Malloy (Marilee
Caliendo / FEMA)

Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), lawyer:  "[A]ttorneys are frequently held to a higher standard of knowledge of the law...  [Clinton i]s an attorney.  She practiced with a prominent... law firm...  She had to have known about [18 USC §1924] because she had to have been briefed when she became secretary..."
Comey:  "[T]he government... must prove... [a defendant] did what is forbidden by law...  He need not have known the code number [of the statute].  But he needs to have known he did something unlawful...  So, 'should have known,' 'must have known,' 'had to know,' does not... prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, he knew he engaged in something unlawful..."

Actually, Clinton knew the code number.  Her knowledge of it is proven by her signature on the "Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement," which states in part:

As used in this agreement, classified information is marked or unmarked classified information...  I have been advised any unauthorized disclosure of classified information by me may constitute a violation... of Section... 1924, Title 18, US Code...  I have read this agreement carefully.  My questions, if any, have been answered.  I acknowledge the briefing officer made available to me the... statutes referenced in this agreement..."

HR Clinton, 22 January 2009

Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-TN), fmr. judge:  "I presided over several hundred felony criminal cases and saw many in which the evidence of criminal intent was flimsier than the evidence is in this case...  [M]any [former] prosecutors across this country publicly said they would have been glad to prosecute this case."
Comey:  "...I want to ask them, 'Where were you over the last 40 years?  Where were these cases?"

The answer depends upon how many opportunities those former prosecutors had for action on a case similar to this one.  It is a highly unusual case, especially because it could not have existed before the late 1990s.  However, the answer does not matter.

"[A] three-and-a-half-hour interview... in a case that involves tens of thousands of documents... is rocket-fast.  I[n] cases way less important than this [one,] people were interviewed for... days [or] weeks...  [B]ased on [Comey]'s words, [Clinton's] extreme carelessness squares exactly with the standard of gross negligence...  If there is proof..., a case can be brought even though no one has ever done the exact same thing before...  This crime is not one of intent..."
Fmr. fed. prosecutor Marc Mukasey on CNN Tonight, 5 July

de Blasio (Barry
Bahler / DHS)

Rep. William Hurd (R-TX):  "I spent nine and a half years as an undercover officer in the CIA...  I've seen my friends killed.  I've seen assets put themselves in harm's way...  The Special Access Program... includes SCI.  Does SCI include HUMINT and SIGINT?"
Comey:  "Yes."
Hurd:  "HUMINT is human intelligence: collected from people who put themselves in harm's way in order to give information to us to drive foreign policy.  SIGINT is signals intelligence: ...information that lets us understand what al-Qaeda and ISIS do."

Rep. Kenneth Buck (R-CO), fmr. fed. prosecutor:  "Has this hearing been unfair to you?"
Comey:  "No."
Buck:  "...Most criminal laws in Title 18 have the words 'knowingly' and 'willfully' in them.  That is the standard under which US attorneys typically prosecute...  [D]o you see the word 'willfully' in 18 USC §1924?"
Comey:  "I don't."
Buck:  "Would that indicate... a lower threshold for intent?"
Comey:  "No."
Buck:  "Why?"
Comey:  "As I understand, judicial practice and the Justice Department's practice will, to any criminal statute at that level, impute a requirement of knowledge of involvement in criminal activity..."
Buck:  "But Congress specifically omitted the word 'willfully' from this statute and yet you imply the word 'willfully' into the statute.  Is that fair [to say]?"
Comey:  "That is fair [to say]."
Buck:  "...Did she know she did not have authority to have this server in her basement?"
Comey:  "Yes."

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), lawyer:  "In law school, I was always taught... ignorance of the law is no excuse.  If I were to drive at 45 miles per hour without having seen the speed limit is 35, ...I would probably be prosecuted for that..."
Comey:  "I don't think the comparison to petty offenses is useful..."

Menendez
(Committee on
Foreign Relations)

Farenthold:  "[T]hat statute [18 USC §793(f)]... does not say 'intent.'  So what must we enact in order for you guys to prosecute... gross negligence?  Would we have to add, 'And, oh, by the way, we really do mean a person need not have intent'?"
Comey:  "That is a conversation for you all to have with the Dept. of Justice.  But there would have to be more than the statute enacted in 1917, which is because, for 99 years, they've been very worried about its constitutionality."

Firstly, how is comparison to petty offenses useless?  Secondly, the Dept. of Justice, which is in the executive branch, is empowered to enforce the law, not share the role of the judicial branch in review of constitutionality.

Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA):  "[B]ased on your assessment, ...Secy. Clinton is unreasonable [or she] willfully disregarded the law..."

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY):  "[I]n all 50 states, is negligent homicide not the basis of frequent prosecutions that are upheld by the courts?"
Comey:  "...I think statutes that criminalize negligent homicide... are... common and those [prosecutions] are sustained."
Massie:  "Don't we have a history of... conviction of negligence in other domains of justice?"
Comey:  "We do...  There are very few in the federal system.  They are mostly... in the areas of the environment and of the Food & Drug Administration."

Rep. Rodney Blum (R-IA):  "I've spent most of my career in the high-tech industry...  [M]y small business in Iowa does not even use Gmail.  That is because it is not secure enough...  The going rate to hack into a Gmail account: $129.  To hack into corporate e-mails: $500 or less.  To hack into an IP address: around $100..."

Rep. Bradley Mark Walker (R-NC):  "I am a little disappointed in [allegations] from my colleagues about... attacks on your character...  I have not heard those and hope you've not experienced them.  I... struggle with the change of heart we hear today...  [O]f... your investigation, ...Pres. Clinton said, 'This is a game.'  ...Rep. [Debbie] Wasserman Schultz [D-FL] said, 'Secy. Clinton is not... a target of this inquiry, investigation -- whatever I-word you want to use.'  Do you feel like this hearing is a witch-hunt by Republicans?"
Comey:  "No...  I understand people's questions and interest.  I... think [transparency] makes our democracy great."

Brown (Congress-
ional Pictorial
Directory)

Rep. John "Mick" Mulvaney (R-SC), lawyer:  "[I]f the next president... were to set up a private email-service..., potentially expose national security information... as a result, lie about it, and destroy the evidence during an investigation, there would be no criminal charge against him...?"
Comey:  "...If the facts were exactly the same, and the law were exactly the same, the result would be the same."

Gowdy:  "...Clinton said she was 'well-aware of the classification requirements.'  ...[Y]ou say [her intent] was convenience...  If it was convenience, she would not have waited two years to return the documents and would not have deleted them four years after they were created...  You read a specific intent element into a gross-negligence statute..."

Rep. Steven Russell (R-OK), retired lieut. colonel:  "[Afte]r decades of my service handling top secret SCI in the Army infantry and in Congress, I know those responsibilities.  Do you think... she would not have known those responsibilities?"
Comey:  "No.  I think, in a way, one would expect she understood the importance of protection of classified information."

"In a way"?

Comey:  "...Uncleared people had access to the server...  [T]here were [people] who maintained the server who were in the private sector."
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), chairperson:  "...Did Secy. Clinton's attorneys have security clearances?"
Comey:  "They did not."
Chaffetz:  "Does that concern you?"
Comey:  "Oh, yeah, sure."
Chaffetz:  "...They don't work for the government.  We can't fire them...  What's the consequence to them?"
Comey:  "Well, if they acted with criminal intent or with malintent--"
Chaffetz:  "...So if there's no intent, then whether they had clearances doesn't matter?"
Comey:  "Of course it matters."
Chaffetz:  "But there is no consequence, Director."
Comey:  "I don't know what consequence you have in mind..."
Chaffetz:  "Prosecution...  Clinton... turn[ed] her e-mails over... to... people who had no clearance.  And there is no consequence.  So why not do it again?"

Fattah (Peter
Souza / WH)

Comey:  "That is a question I don't think you should put to me..."
Chaffetz:  "...Did she not understand they did not have clearances?"
Comey:  "Surely, she understood at least some of them did not have clearances."
Chaffetz:  "...Did Hillary Clinton's attorneys, without clearances, see classified information?"
Comey:  "I don't know."
Chaffetz:  "The answer has to be 'Yes,' Director...  They said they went through all of [her e-mails]."
Comey:  "Her attorneys did not read them all."
Chaffetz:  "So their excuse is, 'We saw the e-mails but didn't read them'?"
Comey:  "No..."
Chaffetz:  "Did... Clinton give, to uncleared people, access to classified information?"
Comey:  "Yes."
Chaffetz:  "What do you think her intent was?"
Comey:  "I think it was to get good legal representation and make the production to the Dept. of State..."
Chaffetz:  "I read criminal intent as the idea to allow someone to access classified information when he has no clearance.  Everybody knows that, Director...  Is there evidence of an attempt by... Clinton to avoid compliance with the Freedom of Information Act?"
Comey:  "That was not the subject of our criminal investigation..."
Chaffetz:  "Do you know who paid for th[e original server]?"
Comey:  "I don't."

A poll commissioned by ABC and The Wash. Post and conducted July 6-7 found, by 56% to 35%, the public thinks an indictment should have been recommended.  One week beforehand, a survey by Public Policy Polling concluded 13% of registered voters would prefer to let "a giant meteor" hit Earth than to vote for Clinton or Trump.  The super-delegates, if they believed their own fear-mongering about Trump, would have nominated Sanders due in part to those statistics and the next point.


5) To vote for Clinton would reinforce a rigged process.

Silver
(nysenate.gov)

On July 22, WikiLeaks disclosed e-mails that further prove high-level officials of the Democratic Nat'l Committee were, contrary to its public statements and in violation of its charter, partial toward Clinton, such as via collusion with media.  Here are examples.

5 May
Brad Marshall, chief financial officer:  "It might ma[ke] no difference, but for KY and WV[,] can we get someone to ask [Sanders] his belief[?]  Does he believe in a God[?]  He had skated on saying he has... Jewish heritage.  I think I read he is an atheist.  This could make several points difference with my peeps.  My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.  It's the... Jesus thing."
Amy Dacey, chief executive officer:  "AMEN"

17 May
Mark Paustenbach, dep. dir. of communications:  "[T]his morning on CNN, [Sanders campaign manager] Jeff Weaver was asked about the protests and threats of violence in NV.  He beg[an] by saying... supporters should 'act in a civil way' but then [he] hit the state party."
Schultz, chairperson:  "Damn liar.  Particularly scummy that he barely acknowledges the violent and threatening behavior that occurred."

When Miss Brzezinski called for Schultz to resign as chairperson due to her obvious bias against Sanders, this is how she reacted.

18 May
Schultz:  "This is the LAST straw.  Please call [pres. of MSNBC] Phil Griffin.  This is outrageous.  [Brzezinski] needs to apologize."
Luis Miranda, dir. of communications:  "Since you already went to Chuck [Todd of NBC], I'll wait for his response."
Shultz:  "I think we need to speak to both of them.  I've been talking to Phil about this since our breakfast."

18 May
Schultz:  "Chuck, this must stop...  I would like to discuss this with you today.  Can you reach out to Luis to schedule a call?  Thanks."
Todd:  "Avail anytime between 11:30 and 4:30."
Schultz:  "Thank you.  Luis will reach out to schedule."

Schultz
(Peter Souza / WH)

The revelation prompted Schultz, Dacey, Marshall and Miranda to resign from their positions on the committee.  Obama, Clinton and Schultz nonetheless implied they believe her misconduct did not warrant censure.

"[Schultz's] leadership... brought Democrats together...  Her fundraising and organizational skills were matched only by her passion, commitment and warmth...  I a[m] grateful for [Schultz's] efforts...  [S]he will continue to serve [in] Congress...  [S]he will always be our dear friend."
Obama, 24 July

"I... thank my longtime friend Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her leadership...  [T]his week's events will be a success thanks to her...  There is... no one better at taking the fight to the Republicans than Debbie, which is why I am glad she has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign's 50-state program... and will continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign...  I look forward to... helping... her re-election bid because, as president, I will need fighters like Debbie in Congress..."  -Clinton, 24 July

"[T]he staff of the Democratic Nat'l Committee... has [made] a remarkable team-effort.  And sometimes, [people] just have to take one for the team."
Schultz, 28 July

Note Clinton acknowledged Schultz had already been a surrogate for Clinton's current campaign.  Schultz might need Clinton's help because, despite Obama's apparent certainty, whether Schultz will be re-nominated for Congress is in doubt.

The presidential nominee whom Sanders's supporters should embrace is Jill Stein MD of the Green Party, who will be the subject of an entry here before Election Day.