Sanders calls for Malloy’s ouster from convention gig

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during a campaign rally on New Haven Green on April 24. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during a campaign rally on New Haven Green on April 24. Photo: Charles Krupa / Associated Press Photo: Charles Krupa / Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Sanders calls for Malloy’s ouster from convention gig 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Bernie Sanders is seeking to have Dannel P. Malloy disqualified from holding a leadership post at the upcoming Democratic National Convention because of the governor’s alliance with Hillary Clinton.

A lawyer for the Vermont senator sent a four-page letter Friday to convention officials challenging Malloy’s credentials to serve as co-chairman of the platform committee. The letter singled out Malloy and former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, who was tapped as co-chairman of the rules committee for the July convention in Philadelphia.

“Gov. Malloy and Mr. Frank have both been aggressive attack surrogates for the Clinton campaign,” wrote Brad Deutsch, the legal counsel for the Sanders campaign. “Their criticisms of Senator Sanders have gone beyond the dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the Senator and his Campaign.”

Malloy’s office referred questions on the governor’s convention role to the Connecticut Democrats, who said Malloy can wear two hats.

“Nothing here has changed. Governor Malloy has been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Secretary Clinton, but has said throughout this process, he will advocate for a process that is fair and a platform that stands in stark contrast to the hateful, divisive and dangerous policies of Donald Trump,” said Leigh Appleby, a state party spokesman.

A request for comment was also left with Clinton’s campaign. The co-chairs of the convention’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, Jim Roosevelt and Lorraine Miller, responded Saturday that Malloy and Frank were legitimately elected and that there was no misconduct by them.

“Having carefully reviewed your challenge, we find that it fails to meet the criteria for the foregoing reasons and pursuant to regulations of the Rules and Bylaws Committee for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Reg. 3.4 (G)(i) we are compelled to dismiss it,” they wrote.

Clinton got the better of Sanders in Connecticut’s April 26 primary, but had a net gain of one pledged delegate because of the proportional system used by Democrats to award delegates. She won 28, to Sanders’ 27. The number excludes 16 superdelegates, a group of party leaders and elected officials that includes Malloy. All but one, who is neutral, are backing Clinton.

From Iowa and New Hampshire to Massachusetts and Connecticut, Malloy, who is the head of the Democratic Governors Association, has campaigned for Clinton.

“Not only is Governor Malloy an avowed loyalist of the Clinton Campaign, he is an incendiary critic of Senator Sanders,” Deutsch wrote on behalf of the campaign. “While justly criticizing ‘Donald Trump and extremist agenda’ in press remarks, Governor Malloy has gone as far as to draw pejorative comparisons between Mr. Trump and Senator Sanders.”

Malloy has been a vocal messenger on the issue of gun control, hitting Sanders for his support of a 2005 firearms industry shield law and his opposition to the Brady Bill when he was a member of the House. Named for the late James Brady, the White House aide who was nearly killed during a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, the legislation established a federal background-check program and mandatory five-day waiting period for gun purchases.

“Governor Malloy has unfairly ascribed blame for the national gun control laws single-handedly to Senator Sanders, referring to the three-day wait provision of the Brady Bill as the ‘Charleston-Sanders loophole,’ ” Deutsch wrote. “Malloy has even ventured that Senator Sanders should be ‘held accountable’ for the ‘death and destruction’ caused by his ‘mistakes.’ ”

The letter further warned that the influence of Malloy and Frank over the convention would disenfranchise Sanders’s supporters and undermine efforts to unify the party.

“The campaign has legitimate concerns that Governor Malloy’s open animosity toward Senator Sanders will make him unreceptive or even antagonistic to the viewpoints of these voters,” Deutsch wrote.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy