Some of the exchanges question Bernie Sanders’ faith. Some show attempts to undermine his campaign’s credibility. One describes him as an outsider with “no understanding of what we do.” Monday morning, the FBI announced they will be investigating the leak of the nearly 2,000 emails sent between top Democratic National Committee members, which were released by WikiLeaks on Friday. Hillary Clinton insists the leak is the work of Russia, in an attempt to give Donald Trump a boost.

The emails–part one of WikiLeaks’ “Hillary Leaks series”–proved so damaging that Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chairwoman, announced her resignation on Sunday. She will address delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week before ceding her post to Donna Brazile, the vice chairwoman of the DNC. Monday morning, Wasserman Schultz was booed at a Florida delegate breakfast in Philadelphia.

While journalists have been combing through the emails, which include over 8,000 attached documents, some shocking exchanges between key party figures have been revealed. In one, Brad Marshall, chief financial officer of the DNC suggests questioning Sanders’ Jewish beliefs as a way to dissuade pious voters in Kentucky and West Virginia from voting for him:

He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist…It’s these Jesus thing.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Sanders, who has been claiming that the DNC rigged the primary fight in favor of Clinton for months, thanked Wasserman Schultz for her years of service, but said she made the “right decision” by resigning. “The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race,” he added.

The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is alive & well!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2016

For her part, Clinton also thanked her “longtime friend” for her five years as DNC leader, and announced she will act as a Clinton surrogate in Florida, a key swing state, as well as other states. “I look forward to campaigning with Debbie in Florida and helping her in her re-election bid–because as President, I will need fighters like Debbie in Congress who are ready on day one to get to work for the American people,” Clinton’s statement read.

Trump quickly seized on the second email scandal involving his rival party during the campaign. He took to Twitter to publicize his views on the matter, firing off a round of tweets Monday morning: “Crooked Hillary Clinton knew everything that her ‘servant’ was doing at the DNC–they just got caught, that’s all! They laughed at Bernie.”

The Democratic Party will seek to show itself as unified, in contrast to the fractured Republicans, during the convention in Philadelphia this week. But the email leak could prove difficult to paper over, especially for Sanders’s supporters and delegates who remain steadfast in their support, even as the senator endorsed Clinton and ended his White House ambitions a few weeks ago.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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“Trump Is a Liar,” “Climate Change Denier,” “Bad Businessman,” “Trump Is Loyal Only to Himself.” No, these are not sound bytes snatched from the primaries or the titles of Hillary Clinton campaign ads. They are subheadings found in a 211-page playbook titled “Donald Trump Report.” Compiled by the Democratic National Committee, the beefy document–which includes briefings on Trump’s “Early Life” and “Business Ventures”–was hacked and obtained by what appear to be Russian-affiliated espionage actors in April and leaked online earlier this week.

Gawker was sent a cache of files that included the DNC’s playbook from “Guccifer 2.0,” whose alias is a nod to the Romanian hacker “Guccifer” who in 2013 hacked the personal accounts of George W. Bush and Colin Powell, the former secretary of state. “Guccifer 2.0” is claiming sole credit for the hack, but the cyber security firm CrowdStrike, whom the DNC turned to to investigate the matter, claims two separate, Kremlin-linked actors (nicknamed “COZY BEAR” and “FANCY BEAR”) are responsible.

“It’s the job of every foreign intelligence service to collect intelligence against their adversaries,” Shawn Henry, president of CrowdStrike told The Washington Post. “Their job when they wake up every day is to gather intelligence against the policies, practices and strategies of the U.S. government.” Henry is also the former head of the FBI’s cyber division.

The document does not contain any previously hidden, revelatory information regarding Trump, but it is a comprehensive look at the probable Republican presidential nominee’s life, business dealings and of course, vulnerabilities. There are 42 pages of “Top Narratives,” 19 pages of “Trump’s Career Overview,” and 118 pages under the heading “Trump on the Issues.”

According to the file’s embedded metadata, the document was created December 19, 2015 by a man named Warren Flood. Flood’s LinkedIn profile says he currently works for 63 Magazine, “the premier digital magazine for progressive political organizers.” Perhaps more relevant, he is also the president of Bright Blue Data LLC, “helping campaigns, organizations, and companies implement winning strategies using data, analytics, and technology.”

But more interesting than the document’s content is the motive of the Russian hackers and what it means–or doesn’t, in a time when state-on-state data breaches are the norm–for the geopolitical sphere. According to U.S. officials and the DNC, Russian spies dug into a trove of material, including DNC emails and the computers of some Republican PACs, or political action committees. “The purpose of such intelligence gathering is to understand the target’s proclivities,” Robert Deitz, a former general counsel at the NSA told The Washington Post.

Whether this was abnormal foul play or business as usual in an age of international cyber espionage, one thing is for sure: Donald Trump is not a fan of at least one thing that bears his name–the DNC playbook.

NEW – Trump statement on Gawker report of alleged DNC oppo file – “we believe DNC did the ‘hacking” pic.twitter.com/Euwlko9Fex

— John Santucci (@JTSantucci) June 15, 2016

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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