PRESS RELEASE


Sanders Fundraises for Statehouse Candidates



MAY 24TH, 2016






ANAHEIM, Calif. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday sent an email to his national fundraising list in support of eight candidates running for seats in state legislatures around the country. Sanders previously used his small-dollar fundraising juggernaut to raise funds for four congressional candidates, Lucy Flores of Nevada, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Zephyr Teachout of New York and Tim Canova of Florida.

“Bernie believes that the path toward bold change requires leaders to take back control of state capitols around the country and ensure fair redistricting in 2020,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “The leaders we’re raising money for today are the members of Congress, senators and presidential candidates of tomorrow.”

Justin Bamberg is a state representative from South Carolina who was an early endorser of Hillary Clinton’s campaign but switched his endorsement before the primary because of Bernie’s work for “racial, social, and economic justice.” Justin won his last election by only 113 votes.

David Bowen is the son of Jamaican immigrants who is running for his second term in the Wisconsin State Legislature. He fought for and won a living wage for Milwaukee city employees.

Clara Hart is a refugee from Mozambique whose family fled from violence when she was just 8 years old. Now she’s running for the South Dakota House, where she hopes to continue her work for immigrant families.

Terry Alexander is a representative in the South Carolina legislature who supports raising the minimum wage, expanding health care and protecting the right to vote.

Carol Ammons became the first African-American woman to win election in her district of the Illinois State Legislature, scoring an upset election victory against a well-funded establishment opponent.

Jane Kim is the first Korean-American to win election in San Francisco, and she’s running to become a California state senator. The daughter of immigrants, Jane is a civil rights attorney who’s fought for affordable housing and fair wages in her city.

Joe Salazar is a state representative in Colorado who is a tireless advocate for stopping fracking, protecting civil rights and advancing criminal justice reform. He won his last election by just 221 votes.

Chris Pearson is running for the Vermont State Senate after spending four terms in the Vermont House of Representatives. He is a champion on the issues of livable wages, strong labor union advocacy, climate change and voting rights. This year he was able to pass a bill into law for automatic voter registration.

“In their home states, these candidates are standing up against the wealthy interests and biggest corporations, and putting working families first,” Weaver added. “Our people-powered campaign is proud to support them.”





https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-fundraises-statehouse-candidates/

As we reported three weeks ago, the notorious Romanian hacker Marcel Lazar known also as Guccifer who first exposed Hillary Clinton's private email address made a bombshell claim when he claimed that he also gained access to the former Secretary of State's "completely unsecured" server. "It was like an open orchid on the Internet," Lazar told NBC News. "There were hundreds of folders." This took place shortly after Lazar was extradited from Romania to the US to face hacking charges.


In the latest twist, Politico reports, Lazar is now expected to plead guilty this week, clearing the way for his unfettered cooperation with federal prosecutors, suggesting that all of his heretofore unverified claims about hacking into Hillary's server will be duly investigated. If confirmed, this could open a new chapter in the FBI's criminal probe into Hillary's email use and/or abuse. As Politico adds, Lazar is scheduled to appear in federal court in Alexandria, Va. Wednesday morning for a change of plea hearing, according to court records. A prosecution spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking confirmation that the guilty plea is part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. A defense attorney declined to comment. Such plea deals usually oblige a defendant to assist authorities in all ongoing investigations.


Lazar was indicted in 2014 on nine felony charges stemming from his alleged hack into the emails of several prominent Americans, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a relative of former President George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, and former Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal. A set of Blumenthal's emails were published online in 2013, disclosing a private email address Clinton used. She later changed the address. Allegedly, Hillary's personal email server was also among those hacked.


Clinton's email arrangement is the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation, believed to be focused on how email messages deemed classified wound up on her server. Some reports have speculated that Lazar could demonstrate how vulnerable Clinton's unusual email set-up was to foreign hackers, but it's unclear how significant that fact would be to a decision about whether to seek criminal charges against Clinton or others involved in creating or using the unofficial email system. If the DOJ's ongoing "effort" to squash the probe - often in direct confronation with the FBI - is any indication, even full data dump by the Romanian may not spur any action, unless of course it is Obama's intention to thaw the DOJ out of its deep freeze slumber right before the Democratic convention and somehow insert Joe Biden as the presumptive presidentical candidate.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-24/hacker-who-got-inside-hillary-clintons-server-said-cooperate-fully-ongoing-email-inv

PRESS RELEASE


Sanders Releases New California Ad



MAY 24, 2016





SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign on Tuesday released a new television spot that will run in California ahead of the state’s June 7 primary election.

“What choice do Californians have in this election?” Sanders asks in the ad. “The biggest one of all. You have the power to choose a new direction for the Democratic Party. To break the back of a corrupt system of campaign finance that keeps a rigged economy in place. To stand up to Wall Street and make the wealthy pay their fair share. To fight for tuition-free public colleges and universities.”

Sanders on Monday called on Hillary Clinton to join him for a debate in the country’s most populous state, but the former secretary of state declined to participate. Sanders said it was “insulting to the people of California – our largest state – that she is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how we address the major crises we face.”

“California, it’s a long way to Washington, but you can send them a message they can’t ignore,” Sanders says as the ad concludes.

Sanders ran a spot in California in April during one of Clinton’s high dollar fundraisers in the state. The ad, called “$27,” focused on the average contribution to the senator’s grassroots campaign. Clinton asked donors to raise $353,400 to get a seat next to her at the head table during two California fundraisers. George Clooney, the actor who hosted both events, called that an “obscene amount of money.”




https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-releases-new-california-ad/

PRESS RELEASE


Clinton Reneges on Debate, Sanders Brands Back Out ‘Insulting’ to Californians



MAY 23RD, 2016






SANTA MONICA, Calif. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday called Hillary Clinton’s decision to renege on a commitment to debate him in California “insulting” to the one in eight Americans who live in the nation’s largest state.

Sanders spoke about Clinton backing out of the debate during an address to 6,750 supporters who filled a football field at Santa Monica High School.

“A number of months ago our campaign and her campaign reached an agreement on a number of debates, including one here in California,” Sanders told the crowd. He was referring to commitments each campaign agreed to last winter to add debates to a schedule set by the Democratic National Committee.

Sanders said it was “insulting to the people of California – our largest state – that she is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how we address the major crises we face.”

Sanders’ remarks capped a day when he continued to campaign from rally to rally across Southern California ahead of the June 7 primary contest with 475 pledged delegates at stake.

Sanders expressed confidence about his prospects in California over Clinton. “They’ve been very nervous lately and I don’t want to get them more nervous but we’re going to win here in California,” he said.





In addition to California, there are contests on the same day in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. In those states, Sanders hopes to extend a recent winning streak that so far has put 20 states in his win column.

Sanders said his campaign has been propelled by excitement and energy that could carry Democrats to victory in November. He cited a surge this year in new voters in California, where Monday’s deadline for registration was expected to see some 2 million voters sign up according to projections by Political Data Inc. “Voter registration here in California among young people and working people is off the charts,” Sanders said.






https://berniesanders.com/press-release/clinton-reneges-california-debate-sanders-brands-back-insulting-californians/

Lee Fang ?@lhfang

New emails show Hillary Clinton's energy initiative used Poland as a "laboratory" for exporting US-style fracking



Hillary Clinton’s Energy Initiative Pressed Countries to Embrace Fracking, New Emails Reveal

New disclosed emails show Clinton State Department Officials working alongside fossil-fuel companies aggressively pushing for fracking even where local governments had expressed opposition and in some cases even banned fracking.

The Intercept....

— Clinton fatigue. Hillary Clinton has been in their living rooms for 25 years, and many are ready for a change.

— Trust. Like the majority of other Americans, much of the Latino community doesn’t trust Hillary or believe what she says.

— Her husband. President Clinton militarized the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego with Operation Gatekeeper in 1994 and signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which divided families by making it easier to remove the undocumented and harder for them to return.

— Her Senate record. Clinton took up an immigration hardline that included voting for a Trump-style border wall and boasting to a conservative radio talk show host in New York that she was “adamantly against illegal immigrants.”

— Condescension. Clinton, who usually doesn’t speak to Latinos in non-election years, was clumsy during her 2008 presidential bid when she tried to connect to Latinos at a Las Vegas restaurant by referring to their problems as “chips” and “guacamole.”

— The Obama presidency. Hillary was at President Obama’s side for four years, as Secretary of State. Many Latinos resent Obama for deporting 3 million people and dividing hundreds of thousands of families. If she really was uncomfortable with what was happening, she should have spoken up earlier.

— Honduras. As Secretary of State, Clinton backed Honduran military forces after it ousted democratically elected president Manuel Zeyala in 2009 and pushed back against global pressure to reinstate him. The coup helped throw the country into chaos.

— Central American refugees. In summer of 2014, as about 80,000 women and children from Central America streamed across the Texas-Mexico border, Clinton told CNN that the refugees, even unaccompanied children, “should be sent back” to send a message. No hearing, no lawyer, no determination of refugee status. Just send them back.

— Caution. Latinos were burned by Obama who they supported by wide margins in 2008 and 2012. Many seem prepared to support Hillary in 2016, especially over Trump, but they want to be more careful this time and get more ironclad guarantees upfront.

— Finally, there’s Bernie. Many Latinos are still excited about Bernie Sanders, and they’re swept up in the whole anti-establishment mood that other Americans have been caught up in as well since they’re marinating in the same juices.

PRESS RELEASE


Sanders Statement on DNC Platform



MAY 23RD, 2016



LOS ANGELES – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement on Monday on the makeup of a key committee that will draft the party platform for this summer’s Democratic National Convention:

“We believe that we will have the representation on the platform drafting committee to create a Democratic platform that reflects the views of millions of our supporters who want the party to address the needs of working families in this country and not just Wall Street, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and other powerful special interests.”




https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-statement-dnc-platform/