Just days before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Wikileaks released nearly 20,000 emails and over 8,000 attachments exchanged among top Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials, and even mainstream media outlets. The timeframe of these communications ranges from January 2015 to May 25, 2016. These leaks raise various, serious questions pertaining to the DNC’s responsibility to hold a fair, unbiased, and neutral primary. Please keep in mind, there are nearly 20,000 emails for the public to sort through. This article will present the highlights, but not nearly the entire depth of these leaks.

Much of the content within this leak discusses strategies at the expense of Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders. The attacks, comments, and communications were exchanged between the DNC communicating amongst themselves, and have even acted as content filters for CNN, MSNBC, Politico, and other media sources.

The main reveal is that the DNC has not been entirely fair or transparent in how it has conducted the primary process, and that is a huge understatement. This email, for example, reveals the intention of painting either Bernie Sanders or one of his surrogates as an atheist in an attempt to damage his performance in the more religiously conservative states of Kentucky and West Virginia:

"It might make no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. 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." - MARSHALL@dnc.org

As a reminder, the DNC is supposed to remain “neutral” toward the candidates throughout the primary process. Although Senator Sanders has caucused with Democrats, with most of his voting record siding with Democrats, DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (DWS) seems to disagree with his qualifications. In this email, DWS is claiming that Sanders is not a real Democrat. The Sanders Campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, is also not well-liked among the DNC, declared a “damn liar” by DWS.

Media Manipulation

If you have been paying close attention to various news sources throughout this election, you may have a firm grasp on which media outlets favor which candidate. Politico, a more Clinton-leaning political news source, had articles proofread by DNC staffers to ensure that the content met the DNC narrative. Wasserman-Schultz herself was involved in these mainstream media communications by suggesting to contact MSNBC to demand action against the network’s "Morning Joe" show. Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough ran a segment calling out DWS for rigging the primary in Hillary’s favor. Of course, back in May, there were no physical correspondence to support this.

Emails sent later that day show damage control between Luis Miranda of the DNC and Chuck Todd of MSNBC, where Miranda writes to Todd:

“I understand Joe and Mika will say whatever they’re going to say in terms of opinion, but at a minimum they should consider the facts on some of the key allegations they’re making.” - Luis Miranda (DNC Communications Director)

Too Quick to Call

With less than two months before the end of the primary, when neither Sanders nor Clinton held enough pledged/unpledged delegates to secure the nomination, Scott Comer (DNC Finance Chief of Staff) and Ellen Thrower (DNC events director) were already planning to team up with Hillary Clinton as the nominee. In May, Wasserman-Schultz wrote confidently that Bernie would not be president.

The last damning email, included in this article at least, includes Clinton plants spying on the Sanders campaign. Kate Houghton (DNC Director of Chair's Office) informs Luis Miranda (DNC Communications) about Alaska Democrats Executive Director Kay Brown’s connections within Senator Sanders’ campaign staff. Houghton and Miranda hoped these connections may be able to provide useful information on a pro-Bernie event occurring during the Alaska State Democratic Convention held in May.

Current Consequences

These revelations arose at a difficult time for Hillary Clinton. She recently received the Democratic Party nomination at the Democratic National Convention over her opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders. However, Wikileaks has described this as “part one” of the new series of leaks expected to come against the former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State. At this time, when the party is expected to unify around Clinton, there is still a strong division and outrage both with and within the Democratic Party.

Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor for Bill Clinton and ardent Sanders supporter, demanded in a Facebook post that Hillary should immediately dismiss Wasserman-Schultz from the DNC in wake of the leaks.

Presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein calls for Sanders to withdraw his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, and to join the Green Party ticket.

Republican Party nominee Donald Trump attempted to sympathize with Sanders supporters by criticizing the DNC in this tweet.

There is no telling what effect this will have on the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, or the months leading up to the general election against Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Consider searching through the leaked emails in your spare time. Find out what top DNC officials had to say about Senator Sanders, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, each of the campaigns' surrogates and more.