Bernie Sanders laid out a list of grievances against Nevada party leaders. | AP Photo Sanders defends campaign, accuses Nevada Democrats of bias

The Democratic National Committee wanted Bernie Sanders to rebuke his supporters' disruptive behavior at the Nevada Democratic Party convention this weekend. Sanders had other ideas.

In a lengthy statement, Sanders offered a broad rebuke of violence and harassment of any kind, but he put his focus elsewhere: accusing state party leaders of holding a biased convention intended to tip the scales in Hillary Clinton's favor.


Sanders laid out a list of grievances against Nevada party leaders, and took issue with a letter they sent to the DNC saying the Sanders campaign has a "penchant for violence."

"That is nonsense. 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," Sanders said.

The Vermont senator went on to list its set of charges against the Nevada Democratic Party at the convention.

"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," Sanders continued. "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."

Sanders' statement came in response to a call from DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for both the Clinton and Sanders campaign to denounce the behavior of convention attendees.

Frustrated by the delegate allocation process, Sanders supporters throughout the convention looked to disrupt the proceedings. Protests continued beyond Saturday, and convention participants posted Nevada Democratic Party chairwoman Roberta Lange's cell phone number online, which resulted in thousands of threatening phone calls.

Wasserman Schultz called for party unity earlier Tuesday in a statement.

"We are deeply concerned about the troubling details laid out in the letter from the Nevada Democratic Party," Wasserman Schultz said in the statement on Tuesday. "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 chairwoman went on to say that it's important for party leaders to denounce the violent behavior.

"The rules governing the Democratic Party delegate selection process have been in place for decades and 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," Wasserman Schultz continued. "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.”

The White House on Tuesday suggested that Sanders has a responsibility to speak out against his supporters’ actions.

“You’ve heard the president on a number of occasions talk about how political disputes can never justify an act of violence,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Tuesday, asked whether President Barack Obama should step in to help unify his party. He said the DNC's system ensures "that each state retains control over the process for selecting delegates” to the convention.

"The establishment of our political system was intended to resolve disputes among our citizens to prevent violence from occurring in the first place,” Earnest said. Obama’s “expectation,” he continued, is that "there will be a strong commitment to that principal of nonviolence, and the way that candidates in both parties address this question publicly is important, and I’m confident it’s something that people all across the country will carefully watch.”

Sarah Wheaton contributed to this report.