UPDATE 2:12 p.m.:
Bernie Sanders' campaign is now threatening legal action against the DNC in the wake of the voter database suspension, CNN reports. "The DNC, in an inappropriate overreaction, has denied us access to our own data," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said during a press conference. "In other words, the leadership of the Democratic National Committee is actively trying to undermine our campaign. If they hold our data hostage, we will be in federal court this afternoon seeking immediate relief."
See original story below.
Just days ahead of the next Democratic presidential debate, Bernie Sanders has been hit with a potential setback. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has suspended Sanders’ campaign from accessing its voter database after an apparent software glitch allowed it to review fellow candidate Hillary Clinton’s private campaign information, NBC News reports. This database, comprised of voter information from across the nation, is used by campaigns to build a potential strategy in key voting states.
The breach reportedly happened after a software error related to the tech company NGP VAN, who provides voter data to campaigns. According to the DNC, "all users on the system" were inadvertently able to access private information from other campaigns for "a brief window." A Sanders campaign staff member who accessed the Clinton campaign’s data has been fired, though NBC News quotes a DNC official as saying a total of four people are believed to have breached Clinton’s data during this window.
"On more than one occasion, the vendor has dropped the firewall between the data of different Democratic campaigns," the Sanders campaign sad in a statement, criticizing NGP Van’s handling of the glitch . "Our campaign months ago alerted the DNC to the fact that campaign data was being made available to other campaigns. At that time our campaign did not run to the media, relying instead on assurances from the vendor. Unfortunately, yesterday, the vendor once again dropped the firewall between the campaigns for some data."
The Clinton campaign has not remarked publicly on these developments.
