Justices Won’t Take Up Lawsuit Claiming DNC Tipped Scales for Clinton in 2016
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court declined on Monday to revive a lawsuit filed by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who claimed the Democratic National Committee improperly tipped the scales for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 primaries.
As is their custom, the justices did not explain their rationale for refusing to take up the case.
Throughout the 2016 primary season, the Sanders campaign claimed the party establishment had its “finger on the scales” but had no concrete proof to rest their claims on.
That changed when leaked DNC emails suggesting Democratic party officials had favored Clinton over the Vermont senator during the primaries, were posted on the WikiLeaks website.
The leak “strongly indicates that the DNC’s entire approach to the [primary] process was guided by the singular goal of elevating Clinton to the general election contest,” the complaint stated.
WikiLeaks never disclosed who gave it the thousands of pages of emails; 12 Russian military intelligence officers were later indicted in connection with the DNC hack and hacking of the Clinton presidential campaign.
The lawsuit dispensed with Monday was filed shortly thereafter, and then-DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
The lawsuit by Sanders was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, and that dismissal was later upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
