US Democratic Party Convention Opens Amid Leaked Email Controversy

U.S. Democrats open their national convention Monday, set to affirm former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the party’s 2016 presidential nominee, but embroiled in controversy over leaked emails that show how Democratic party leaders sought to ease her path to the nomination by mocking her challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the Democratic National Committee, was pushed out of the post Sunday in the aftermath of the WikiLeaks disclosure of nearly 20,000 emails. She was jeered Monday by Sanders’ supporters as she spoke to a group of delegates from her home state of Florida, where she is a congresswoman, but did not talk about the emails.

Wasserman Schultz told the gathering she had gladly accepted Clinton’s offer to be a campaign surrogate for her in the coming months, after leaving as party chief at the end of the four-day convention.

Sanders outraged

Sanders, a democratic socialist who waged a tough months-long campaign against Clinton before she claimed the nomination, said he was outraged by the email disclosures that disparaged him, but said they justified his long claims that party officials favored Clinton in her quest to become the country’s first female president.

Sanders now has endorsed Clinton and is set to deliver a key address for her as the convention convenes Monday in the eastern city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. First lady Michelle Obama and a progressive Democratic favorite, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, are to also make the case for Clinton in her race against Republican Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul who claimed his party’s nomination last week.

Democratic officials say the emails were hacked from their official computers by “Russian state actors,” a claim some U.S. computer experts say was possible, but a contention mocked by Trump.

Trump has commented about the Russian leader, saying Putin exhibits more strength as a world leader than U.S. President Barack Obama.

In another tweet, Trump said, “Hillary was involved in the email scandal because she is the only one with judgment so bad that such a thing could have happened!”

No comment

Clinton has not spoken publicly about the email leak or the contents of the messages. But on Sunday she thanked Wasserman Schultz for her leadership of the party committee during the past five years, and named her as the honorary chair of her campaign’s 50-state effort to elect Democrats throughout the country.

WATCH: Wasserman Schultz talks unity at Florida delegation breakfast

Two new polls Monday showed Trump, a one-time television reality show host seeking his first elected office, edging ahead of Clinton in the days after the Republican convention.

Republican convention speakers pilloried Clinton’s record for four days and delegates repeatedly shouted, “Lock her up!” at mentions of her handling of classified material on her private email server while she was the country’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently concluded that she was “extremely careless” in dealing with the national security documents, but that no criminal charges were warranted.

U.S. presidential candidates typically get a bump in public support after their nominating conventions and Trump showed a sizable 10-point gain in a CNN/ORC poll. The news organization’s survey shows Trump with a 48 to 45 percent lead, compared to it last poll showing Clinton with a 49-42 percent lead.

A CBS News national poll showed Trump with a 44-43 percent lead.

Wasserman Schultz resignation

Sanders had demanded Wasserman Schultz resign after the WikiLeaks disclosures of her emails written during the past year and a half.

After her resignation was announced, he issued a statement saying, “Debbie Wasserman Schultz has made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party. While she deserves thanks for her years of service, the party now needs new leadership that will open the doors of the party and welcome in working people and young people. The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race.”

President Obama issued a statement of his own, saying, “Her leadership of the DNC has meant that we had someone who brought Democrats together not just for my re-election campaign, but for accomplishing the shared goals we have had for our country. Her critical role in supporting our economic recovery, our fights for social and civil justice and providing health care for all Americans will be a hallmark of her tenure as Party Chair.”

Convention start

More than 5,000 delegates are among the 50,000 people set to attend the gathering in Philadelphia, with some Sanders supporters continuing to protest Clinton’s nomination.

A fixture on the American political scene for a generation, Clinton is headed to the party’s quadrennial convention after naming Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her vice presidential running mate.

Clinton will become the first woman to be a major U.S. party’s standard bearer.

Trump has for months labeled the presumptive Democratic nominee “crooked Hillary.” But in an interview aired Sunday on CBS TV’s “60 Minutes,” Clinton asserted she will not engage in the kind of “insult fest” she said Trump “seems to thrive on.” [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: Education


 

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