Subject: NV Dems Release Formal Complaint Detailing Disturbing Convention Tactics
From: Stewart Boss <[email-masked]>
To: Stewart Boss <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2016 07:22:40 -0700

*For Immediate Release*

May 17, 2016

*Contact: *Stewart Boss, [email-masked]

*NV Dems Release **Formal Complaint*
<http://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/NV-Dems-Letter-to-DNC-on-State-Convention.pdf>*
Detailing Disturbing Convention Tactics*

*Las Vegas, NV* – On Monday afternoon, the Nevada State Democratic Party
sent a formal complaint
<http://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/NV-Dems-Letter-to-DNC-on-State-Convention.pdf>
to the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee regarding
the conduct of Senator Bernie Sanders’ supporters and representatives from
his campaign at the party’s 2016 State Convention in Las Vegas on Saturday,
May 14. The four-page letter explains in detail how Sanders supporters and
campaign staff actively incited disruption and violence after failing to
organize their supporters and being outnumbered
<https://medium.com/@nvdems/the-facts-about-the-nevada-democratic-state-convention-on-saturday-106cc5db3d83#.lw18bpeit>
at the State Convention by Hillary Clinton’s delegates.

*Read the letter below from the Nevada State Democratic Party’s General
Counsel: *

Monday, May 16, 2016

Mr. Jim Roosevelt and Ms. Lorraine Miller

Co-Chairs, Rules and Bylaws Committee

Democratic National Committee

430 South Capitol Street Southeast

Washington, DC 20003

To the Co-Chairs and Members of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee:

By this letter, the Nevada State Democratic Party (“NSDP”) hereby lodges a
formal complaint regarding the conduct of supporters of Senator Bernie
Sanders at the recent State Convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada on
Saturday, May 14, 2016, as well as the conduct of representatives of
Senator Sanders’ presidential campaign (the “Sanders Campaign”).

We believe, unfortunately, that the tactics and behavior on display here in
Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia
in July for our National Convention. We write to alert you to what we
perceive as the Sanders Campaign’s penchant for extra-parliamentary
behavior—indeed, actual violence—in place of democratic conduct in a
convention setting, and furthermore what we can only describe as their
encouragement of, and complicity in, a very dangerous atmosphere that ended
in chaos and physical threats to fellow Democrats. Indeed, the threats to
the Chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party are ongoing at time of this
writing, as Sanders activists have posted her cell phone and home address
online, and have bombarded her with threats to her life and the safety of
her family. We have attached some examples of this conduct, which is not
merely offensive but obviously criminal in nature. We can provide audio of
threatening phone calls made directly to the Chair, which now number in the
hundreds.

The explosive situation arose in large part because a portion of the
community of Sanders delegates arrived at the Nevada Democratic State
Convention believing itself to be a vanguard intent upon sparking a
street-fight rather than attending an orderly political party process.
Surprised and outraged at the idea of being out-organized and thus
outnumbered in the convention hall by Clinton delegates, a portion of the
Sanders delegation rushed the dais immediately upon the opening of the
convention and halted the progress of any convention business for much of
the day. Indeed, every point during which Sanders delegates did not agree
with any aspect of the proceedings saw them press up against the dais and
scream obscenities and threats at the Chair, First Vice Chair, and any
other speaker. In fact, event security provided by the Paris Las Vegas
Hotel & Casino took it upon themselves to increase the security perimeter
around the dais so the convention could simply move forward with its
routine business in relative safety. In other words, the hour-to-hour
business of Nevada Democrats was necessarily conducted in an atmosphere of
impending eruption of physical threats and intimidation for more than 12
hours. Scuffles, screams from bullhorns, and profane insults marked nearly
the entirety of the event. Numerous medical emergencies among delegates
pressed up against the dais had to be attended to throughout the day.

To the great embarrassment and revulsion of the vast majority of attendees,
Sanders delegates crowded the dais and shouted down universally-respected
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who had arrived as a guest of the
party to deliver a keynote address in support of former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.

The Sanders Campaign spent its time either ignoring or profiting from the
chaos it did much to create and nothing to diminish or mitigate. It was
clear to the NSDP that part of the approach by the Sanders Campaign was to
employ these easily-incensed delegates as shock troops to sway the
convention proceedings. At the very least, these delegates became a way for
the Sanders Campaign to seek the advantage of disruption at any particular
moment while trying to disavow any responsibility for their actions even as
it was ongoing. At no time did any Sanders representative make anything
more than token gestures towards peace in the hall, and at the times of
most intense crisis offered little more than shrugs and smirks.

The most egregious instance of the Sanders Campaign inciting disruption—and
yes, violence—came as the State Convention’s Credentials Committee
completed its work. Adam Gillette, part of National Delegate Operations
Team for the official Sanders Campaign, drafted and arranged for a member
of that committee to attempt to deliver an incendiary, inaccurate, and
wholly unauthorized “minority report” charging that the Credentials
Committee had fraudulently denied 64 Sanders delegates their eligibility.
The final delegate count had provided the Clinton Campaign with a 33
delegate advantage in the hall; one can imagine the rage occasioned by this
inflammatory charge, tossed into the tinderbox of a tense convention hall.
Not only did this discredit the work of the Credentials Committee—which
featured five Sanders delegates and five Clinton delegates and a Sanders
co-chair, and who worked all day under extremely trying conditions to be
fair and diligent in their duties—it called into question the entirety of
the proceedings because it indicated to an irrational minority that the
proceedings had been rigged against them. Forcing their way onto the dais
to deliver this paranoid fantasy of fraud and delegate theft was clearly
intended to throw the proceedings into disarray. It succeeded. From that
moment on, there was little hope for any peace or mutual understanding and
respect between Sanders delegates and the NSDP; the mantra became simply
that the convention had been stolen from the Sanders Campaign.

Never mind that six of the 64 potential Sanders delegates referenced had
been seated after investigation, or that most of the remaining 58 potential
delegates had been disqualified—appropriately, and by a panel evenly split
between the campaigns—for not being registered Democratic voters in Nevada.
Never mind that the same Credentials Committee had disqualified Clinton
delegates for various reasons as well. Never mind, further, that just eight
of those 64 potential Sanders delegates even attempted to register for the
State Convention. All that mattered was the creation of a narrative of
fraud and dispossession, which the Sanders Campaign fomented intentionally
for its own political gain. This was an unconscionable act by an official
Sanders Campaign representative, with full knowledge of its likely impact
on the convention.

Alerted by event security at approximately 10 p.m. that the situation had
reached a point where public safety could no longer be assured and that the
proceedings had to be concluded in very short order, the NSDP worked
diligently to conclude the business of the day and adjourn the State
Convention as quickly as possible.

On Sunday, May 15, 2016, a group of Sanders activists attended “protests”
at the NSDP’s headquarters office in Las Vegas to criminally deface the
building with graffiti. Las Vegas police were notified and called to the
scene.

The people who fostered, encouraged, and gained from the unsettling scenes
at the Nevada State Democratic Convention bring dishonor and discredit to
our state and national parties. Having seen up close the lack of conscience
or concern for the ramifications of their actions—indeed, the glee with
which they engaged in such destructive behavior—we expect similar tactics
at the National Convention in July. We therefore formally complain to the
DNC regarding these unfortunate events, and warn the body that the goal of
many of these individuals, sanctioned or encouraged by the Sanders
Campaign, is not party-building but something more sinister and
unproductive. Their tactics speak for themselves, and have no place in our
political process as Democrats.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

/s/ Bradley S. Schrager

Bradley S. Schrager, Esq.

General Counsel

Nevada State Democratic Party

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