by Adrian Arizmendi

Late Thursday, the Bernie Sanders’ campaign issued a statement confirming that a staff member was fired for accessing Hillary Clinton’s private voter data. The fired staffer, Josh Uretsky, had this to say:

“The breach was in no way our fault. I saw it and attempted to investigate and attempted to do it in a transparent manner… We saw a security breach and we tried to assess it and understand it.” — Josh Uretsky

But MSNBC host Steve Kornacki said Uretsky put it a different way in an interview: “Someone leaves the front door open and you go in and leave a note saying ‘you left the door open.’”

Sort of a break-the-law-in-order-to-prevent-a-potential-law-breaking defense.

The Dems aren’t buying it.

News reports indicate the Sanders campaign searched and saved Clinton’s private voter data, from a database known as VAN. The data is campaign mobilization gold. VAN is an organizing database used by most Democratic campaigns to identify supporters and get them out to vote. VAN data includes whether or not a voter supports a candidate, previous voting records, where a voter lives and whether the campaign has previously reached out to them.

This type of information in the hands of an opposing campaign is valuable time saved: Why bother knocking on the door of a hardcore Clinton supporter? Skip. Right now is a critical time for campaigns to mobilize voters in places like Iowa and New Hampshire, where voting is only weeks away. So any door saved is another door gained.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is fighting back cage match style — putting the Sanders campaign in a political chokehold by blocking them from accessing Bernie’s own VAN data!

Put another way: It’s the equivalent of cutting off someone’s leg and then telling them to get ready for a race.

Sanders is now threating to sue the DNC.

Why this matters:

People power? Sure, it’s nice to think that it’s all grassroots, but even grassroots movements nowadays need access to voter data. If you were on a list of people the Sanders campaign wanted to call or visit, that won’t be happening without this data. Sanders’ hands are essentially tied.

Why this is happening (according to Bernie):

“The leadership of the Democratic National Committee is actively trying to undermine our campaign.” — Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager.

🔥.

Update: Bernie Sanders’ campaign has filed a lawsuit against the DNC.

Follow Adrian on Twitter @arizerg