Debbie Wasserman Schultz ‘concerned’ after Nevada Democratic Party files complaint against Bernie Sanders campaign

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned,” after receiving a complaint from the Nevada Democratic Party regarding the actions of some Bernie Sanders supporters on Saturday at the Nevada Democratic convention.

“We are deeply concerned about the troubling details laid out in the letter from the Nevada Democratic Party,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “We will be reaching out to the leadership of both of our campaigns to ask them to stand with the Democratic Party in denouncing and taking steps to prevent the type of behavior on display over the weekend in Las Vegas. Our democracy is undermined any time threats, intimidation, physical violence or damage to property are present. If there are legitimate concerns, they must be addressed in an orderly, civil and peaceful manner.”

The DNC party chair was reacting to a complaint filed on Monday by Bradley S. Schrager, general counsel for the Nevada State Democratic Party. Schrager wrote that Bernie Sanders supporters have a penchant for “actual violence,” and said that they were continuing to harass Roberta Lange, the chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party.

The Nevada Democratic convention was shut down on Saturday at the Paris Las Vegas hotel because security staff said at one point that they could no longer ensure order.

Sanders’ backers had been protesting convention rules that ultimately led to Hillary Clinton winning more pledged delegates. Clinton won the state’s caucuses in February, 53-47, but Sanders backers hoped to pick up extra delegates by packing county and state party gatherings.

Sanders pushed back on Tuesday, particularly on that “penchant for violence” line.

“That is nonsense,” the Vermont senator said in a statement. “Our campaign has held giant rallies all across this country, including in high-crime areas, and there have been zero reports of violence. Our campaign of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals. But, when we speak of violence, I should add here that months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada and apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked.”

In her letter, Wasserman Schultz said the the rules governing the party’s delegation selection process has been in place “for decades” and that the specific procedures for this cycle were agreed upon in 2014.

“In Nevada on Saturday, the state party’s credentials committee was made up of an equal number of members representing both campaigns,” she said. “That’s a testament to our party’s fundamental belief in being inclusive, open to the public, and transparent. The process for nominating a Democratic Presidential candidate is not something taken lightly, it is a four-year endeavor that is closely scrutinized and determined in public forums, just as it has been in past election cycles. There is no excuse for what happened in Nevada, and it is incumbent upon all of us in positions of leadership to speak out.”

Sanders said that Democratic leadership at the Nevada state convention “used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place.”

He then listed four specific events that took place in Nevada on Saturday.

• The chair of the convention announced that the convention rules passed on voice vote, when the vote was a clear no-vote. At the very least, the Chair should have allowed for a headcount.
• The chair allowed its Credentials Committee to en mass rule that 64 delegates were ineligible without offering an opportunity for 58 of them to be heard. That decision enabled the Clinton campaign to end up with a 30-vote majority.
• The chair refused to acknowledge any motions made from the floor or allow votes on them.
• The chair refused to accept any petitions for amendments to the rules that were properly submitted.

“These are on top of failures at the precinct and county conventions including trying to depose and then threaten with arrest the Clark County convention credentials chair because she was operating too fairly,” Sanders added.