Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren weighed in on the content of e-mails that were leaked from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that seem to show favorable treatment of nominee Hillary Clinton over her rival in the primaries, Bernie Sanders.
Warren, who has endorsed Clinton and been a key to her presidential campaign, made the comments on 7 August 2016 during an interview on Boston television station WCVB:
It is an embarrassment to the party and it is an embarrassment to the nation.
I think that the right thing was that Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned. I think that was appropriate. People have been fired. I think that's appropriate.
Warren also had praise for the DNC's interim chair, Donna Brazile:
She's not going to be pushed around in that job, I think she's going to evaluate what we need at the Democratic Party and I'm grateful for that.
Warren's comments were taken out of context and incorrectly attributed. For example, one web site claimed Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, a Sanders surrogate, made the comments, then fabricated comments about Gabbard's supporting Clinton only because she was the nominee. Another web site incorrectly cast Warren's comments as being sympathetic toward Sanders.
The e-mail hacks were reportedly carried out by Russians and made public via WikiLeaks. The hacks, which are being investigated by the F.B.I., targeted Clinton's campaign officials and Democratic party operatives, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is the fundraising arm of the DNC and House Democrats.
According to the New York Times:
The attack has already proved politically damaging. On the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as D.N.C. chairwoman after WikiLeaks released a trove of hacked internal emails showing party officials eager for Mrs. Clinton to win the nomination over Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
American intelligence agencies have said they have “high confidence” that the attack was the work of Russian intelligence agencies. It has injected a heavy dose of international intrigue into an already chaotic presidential campaign as Democrats have alleged that the Russians are trying to help tilt the election toward the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump.
The cyber attacks have prompted Department of Homeland Security officials and the Obama administration to consider classifying electronic voting equipment as "critical infrastructure," a designation that has been applied to things like mass communication, transit systems and dams.
Warren's interview can be viewed in its entirety on the WCVB web site.