Ryan Hughes, MI and PA Bernie State Director, Accused of Accepting Hillary Super Pac Money

I have been holding onto this information, but since Niko House has posted a video regarding this allegation, I've decided to lay out for you what I know.

Ryan Hughes was Sander's campaign's state director for Michigan, and is now the state director for Bernie's Pennsylvania campaign, as well. Mark Craig, the founder of a grassroots volunteer group in Michigan that supports Bernie Sanders, Flint4Bernie.org, had many dealings with Ryan Hughes after Hughes came to Michigan. Mark Craig also said he was one of the primary organizers for Bernie's March 2nd rally and speech to thousands of people at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University. His grassroots organization was started in 2015, long before Ryan Hughes showed up as the paid director for Bernie's campaign in Michigan.

Mr. Craig stated to me that knows a senior employee who works for Priorities USA Action ("Priorities USA"), a Hillary Super Pac. In late February, after Craig casually mentioned that Ryan Hughes was running the Sanders' campaign, that person told him that Hughes was receiving direct payments from Priorities USA, all while Ryan Hughes worked as the Sanders' campaign's state director for Michigan, along with several other paid Michigan staffers.

Some context:

Priotities USA Action is a Super Pac, to which unlimited contributions may be made, that supports one candidate in this election cycle: Hillary Clinton. As noted in my post yesterday about Mayor Weaver of Flint, MI and her endorsement of Hillary, the top donors to Priorities USA Action include many of Hillary's wealthiest and most prominent supporters; billionaires such as the J.B Pritzker and his wife, George Soros, James Simon (hedge fund manager worth over $15 Billion), Steven Spielberg, and many other wealthy individuals in the finance and entertainment industries.

If Ryan Hughes did receive payments from Hillary's Super Pac, as Mark Craig alleges, this is more than just an ethical lapse in judgment. It would be even more evidence of Hillary operatives infiltrating Bernie's campaign to sabotage it.

Mr. Craig certainly believes that Ryan Hughes did everything possible to destroy the grassroots activist movement for Bernie in Michigan, including opposing long standing groups that formed to support Bernie back in 2015, and which were already coordinating with each other regarding each group's activities and events (e.g., rallies and canvassing activities) among themselves. Among the many things Mark shared with me about Ryan Hughes' performance as state director include the following:

1. Hughes refused requests by volunteers to politicize the Flint water crisis. Even though the Hillary campaign was doing so for months prior to the election, Hughes told volunteers not to make the water crisis a point of emphasis until shortly before the date of the primary.

2. Told volunteers they could no longer do door to door grassroots canvassing. Instead, volunteers in Flint were directed to canvas only those residential addresses that included likely Sanders' voters. When volunteers went to those addresses they usually found abandoned homes, or people who were registered Republicans.

3. Ignored volunteers request to canvas in African American neighborhoods.

4. Kicked out all of the volunteers who were willing to work for free to staff the Flint office. Hughes replaced them with paid staff, many of whom had no Michigan ties.

Mark set up the Flint office, negotiating the lease and obtained internet service prior to Hughes' arrival in Flint. He also paid for equipping the office out of his own pocket. Mark was never repaid by the campaign for these expenditures, even though he relied on Hughes' promise he would be reimbursed.

Obviously, many of the criticisms of Ryan Hughes could be attributed to incompetence, or simply an unwillingness to use a volunteer based model for the campaign. However, the charge that Hughes took money from Priorities USA, the largest independent Super Pac supporting Hillary, lends credence to the view that Hughes was actively working to hurt Bernie's chances in Michigan. And in fact, Bernie won the Michigan primary largely on the strength of the vote in those counties where Hughes had no paid field staff on site and was forced to rely solely on volunteers, whom often disregarded his directives. Bernie lost the vote in those counties in the vicinity of Flint where Hughes' was located, and where he had the most direct oversight over the actions of Bernie volunteers.

I hope to have more news for you soon, regarding the names of other Michigan staffers who may also have been receiving payments from Hillary's Super Pac. Meanwhile, here is Niko House's latest video about Ryan Hughes:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ysvl3mikPo]

Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

GreyWolf's picture

00 new tweet.jpg

up
0 users have voted.

Just tweeted your tweet to Thom!

up
0 users have voted.
GreyWolf's picture

up
0 users have voted.

Ed Schultz too, please

AMY GOODMAN

Do we trust Rachel Maddow????

up
0 users have voted.
Lady Libertine's picture

No.

up
0 users have voted.
Raggedy Ann's picture

up
0 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

thanks for confirming my sense...
think she & her wife are still voting for the "woman" first....their right..
just don't agree with it...

up
0 users have voted.

shouldn't affect her reporting. But, I'm afraid, it does.

up
0 users have voted.
Steven D's picture

I think Maddow is fine, but they have muzzled her. She can either quit like KO and
Melissa Harris-Perry, but maybe she wants to keep the paycheck, or figures if she leaves
whoever they replace her with will be a RW nutjob. I didn't get the vibe she was all in
on Clinton. For a while they let her interview Bernie, but when the race tightened up
they went to Trump and Hillary all the time.

Shame really.

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

pfiore8's picture

up
0 users have voted.

“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"

Lenzabi's picture

If the other Youtube/online news agencies catch this, TYT will also work on it. then watch what happens!

up
0 users have voted.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

How about the nation? Elizabeth Warren? Taibbi? The worst that can happen is that they delete it.

up
0 users have voted.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

up
0 users have voted.

With their hearts they turned to each others heart for refuge
In troubled years that came before the deluge
*Jackson Browne, 1974, Before the Deluge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SX-HFcSIoU

Sedna's picture

Thanks for your excellent work - let the sharing commence!

What about trying to get the attention of someone like Amy, Goodman/Democracy Now! There's anti-Hillary journalism allowed there, like Glenn (@ggreenwald) Greenwald's piece on her history of embracing dictators: http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/24/glenn_greenwald_hillary_clinton_ha...

Here's a contact link: http://www.democracynow.org/contact

up
0 users have voted.

"So it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

and a corrupter of mens' hearts.

up
0 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

I've sent a link to this essay to Tasini, and bobswern

Tasini should be able to get through to correct person at Sanders Campaign.
bobswern has good network of journalists ( also sent it to him on GOS)

Who do YOU know who you think could get this to the attention of a senior member of the Sanders campaign.

Anyone you know ON STAFF in your state, who has access to senior staff on campaign - PLEASE send it to them.

This is great journalism StevenD, but not effective if it doesn't get past this network.

up
0 users have voted.
Steven D's picture

Been trying to get it out of our little hole in the wall as best I can.

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

jiordan's picture

A google search shows a lot of hits and Aisha's twitter feed has disppeared. I think its growing legs pretty fast

up
0 users have voted.
Martha Pearce-Smith's picture

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
--------
100Reporters

"100Reporters exists to hold accountable those wielding power and controlling money – specifically, governments, public officials and corporations in the U.S. and abroad – through fearless reporting that spans the globe."

Mission - Contact

up
0 users have voted.

Please help the Resilience Resource Library grow by adding your links.

First Nations News

There is NO WAY HRC could possibly be UNAWARE of this shit.

up
0 users have voted.

******************************

Muerte al fascismo. Muerte a la tiranía. colapso total de los que promueven tampoco. A la pared con el unico porciento%

And you are surprised about his, because?
They work with David Brock FCS! David Brock.

Of course she knows, she & Bill & co micro-mangage.

up
0 users have voted.
Steven D's picture

They set it up that way, I'm sure of it. She knows, but no one ever "told" her
if you know what I mean.

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Martha Pearce-Smith's picture

up
0 users have voted.

Please help the Resilience Resource Library grow by adding your links.

First Nations News

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keith-olbermann-return_us_56f5a93ae4...

YES!!! We want you back Keith!

Don't agree with "plausible deniability" - she 's spent too many years just lying. Remember, when FL, and her Rose Law firm records were SUBPOENAED and she couldn't find them, literally said that at a presser, she couldn't find them - then much later then turned up in the family quarters of the WH and no one cold explain how they got there!!! Imagine? Liar
as David Geffen said:
“Geffen, a big fundraiser for the Clintons in the past, called Obama "inspirational" and dismissed Hillary Clinton as "overproduced and overscripted." As for her husband, Geffen suggested that his bad-boy days are not behind him: "I don't think anybody believes that in the last six years, all of a sudden Bill Clinton has become a different person." And to top it off, he said this about the two of them: "Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling."

up
0 users have voted.
stevej's picture

about the Clintons is that they will do whatever they think they can get away with to win. They make no moral assessments just the pragmatic one of whether they are likely to get caught or not.

up
0 users have voted.

“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire

I believe the Sanders campaign is infested with moles.
It saddens me for him, for us, for democracy...This is 3rd World bs. It is not supposed to be happening here.

up
0 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

sojourns's picture

What will this mean if it pans out?

up
0 users have voted.

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

bodysurfer's picture

The suggestion to VET YOUR BOSS.

up
0 users have voted.

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. -- Jeff Spicoli

bodysurfer's picture

up
0 users have voted.

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. -- Jeff Spicoli

i have a trustworthy contact with the bernie 2016 campaign. but the campaign needs actual proof, not hearsay. if you have actual proof, email me with more information about whatever actual evidence you (or somebody) has & if it is strong enough, the campaign will want to know about it, & i'll introduce you to my contact.

i'm a bernie volunteer in pennsylvania. official campaign staff arrived here last week.

we can't afford to lose PA.

up
0 users have voted.
sojourns's picture

Social media in action.

up
0 users have voted.

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Do you consider what Steven D has posted here is considered "hearsay?"
Wondering what more the campaign would need to at least investigate these people?
Thanks for being willing to help.
These tactics are so like the Clintons - been doing it for years.
Lived in DC for about 20 years - and it's even easier to BREATHE in western MA!!!!

up
0 users have voted.
Steven D's picture

So taken care of.

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

PriceRip's picture

up
0 users have voted.

at least not without more evidence. This could come back and bite if it does not prove out. Not quite ready for prime time IMHO.

up
0 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Steven D's picture

Niko did not disclose his source for the charge against Hughes. I felt in fairness to Mark Craig who has actually been trying to get people to take notice of his claims re Hughes for a while now, I should at least post that there was a real person behind the allegation. In my telephone conversations with Mark I have not picked up any sketchy vibe. He comes across to me as authentic and angry at what he considers malfeasance by Hughes work in Michigan.

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

RantingRooster's picture

out messages to the following youtube channels, forwarding a link to Steve's article.

RT
Big Picture
Ed Schultz
Mother Jones
Redacted Tonight
Ring of Fire Radio
We are Change.org
Democracy Now
Sam Seder
Rolling Stone
Killer Mike
African Americas For Bernie Sanders
Doe Nation (great videos btw)
The Laura Flanders Show
Secular Talk
The Humanist Report
TYT

Hopefully we can get some more traction on this.

up
0 users have voted.

C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote

Martha Pearce-Smith's picture

I don't Tweet, but is there a way to get this out to the unions that have endorsed Bernie?

up
0 users have voted.

Please help the Resilience Resource Library grow by adding your links.

First Nations News

Shigeru's picture

he could get jail time if prosecuted and found guilty.

up
0 users have voted.
Tommymac's picture

There are several independent journalists who are regulars there. One for sure who is very honest and just wants the Truth, and philosophically is on to the tricks of HRC, is nadinbrzezinski. Not a real close poster, probably would not know who I am as I mainly lurk there - 1600 posts in 12 years.

Also try Truthout - Will Pitt may take a look.

The Nation is another possibility as long as you have pretty damn good proof.

up
0 users have voted.

FEEL THE BERN: "But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing." - Thomas Paine
"Here I Stand, I can do no other." - Attributed to Martin Luther, 1521

PennBrian's picture

I hope this isn't true. I remember reading years back about how insurgent groups were often infiltrated and even exposing an infiltrator just made the problem worse because instead of mutual cooperation there was mutual suspicion everywhere. I would be really judicious about publicizing any of this until something really airtight is shown. What's confusing also is that if this guy was in charge of Michigan, no one can really say that was a failure. Even North Carolina was pretty good compared to the polls, I was proud of Bernie's performance in both states.

up
0 users have voted.
Alison Wunderland's picture

the part that went TU for Bernie. In the Western part, the locals ran their own show and prevailed.

But I agree it needs to be pretty certain or else it'll backfire and seem like a vendetta.

Keep digging, Steven, keep digging, man. This will come out.

up
0 users have voted.

John Oliver? Glenn Greenwald? Brad Friedman (Brad Blog)?

Just some stabs in the dark.

-But what we REALLY need to be doing, IMO, is to re-organize the entire pro-Bernie organism to bypass all known walking, talking, bribe-taking cancers. We need some sort of outreach to Wisconsin, NOW. -And to PA, NY, CA, and the rest, SOON. One that will get to the REAL grassroots, and isolate the moles from actually knowing what the grassroots are up to at any given moment. I have seen this done successfully a few times in companies with incompetent managerial staff. Employees simply encyst the individual, keep telling them that management's lame ideas are working fine, and then proceed to actually get the job done, the way they know it has to be done. It's a risky game, but in this case, absolutely necessary.

Or perhaps, we need to form a flat-hierarchy network that operates outside of the "official" campaign. As Niko says, in one of his videos, "call everyone in your address-book" to get the word out. At this point the only real advantage left for Bernie's campaign from the Democratic Party is access to their voter database, anyway. But if the revealed shenanigans are any indication, are we really so sure that we are getting the full database, and not just all the wrong numbers, and suspected Trump supporters? Ironically, the only sane response is to go full paranoid.

We should all applaud the noble work of Steven D and Niko House! -But concurrent with this effort to publicize their work we should also be networking with all lower-level Bernie supporters in any remaining states, to get them real communication, real support, and help them form real winning strategies. In a system as rigged as this one, I don't think we can expect any do-overs. The clock is ticking. We have a national network to clone and organize, and no time to do it. If any of you have lower-level Bernie supporter info in remaining states, please share these revelations about the corruption from the Democratic Party with them, directly. And I would suggest only communicating with them when they are using hardware NOT on loan from the Democratic Party, i.e. their OWN laptops or phones, etc. Call me paranoid, but I call that rational caution.

At any rate, the Quislings have shown themselves to be untrustworthy. Ergo, we must not trust them, in any respect, from here on in. All the front-line volunteers need this intel, yesterday. If we wait for them to see it on TYT, it may be too late to help them. We will have plenty of time later to build veritable guillotines of litigation.

I go now to start emailing Bernie supporters I know in CA and NY. Please, everybody, do the same! Solidarity!

up
0 users have voted.

"Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

GreyWolf's picture

As Stephen Coyne so aptly reminds us, “We need to understand, the Clinton enterprise will do anything to steal this election.”

up
0 users have voted.
lunachickie's picture

This just jumped off the screen at me:

I’d like to know where Anonymous is when you need them? This is exactly the sort of malfeasance by the “establishment” that they claim is their mission to take down...

I've been wondering this for the better part of a year. Understand, I have been known to praise Anonymous in the past, but their silence on the Clinton campaign is deafening, at least IMO. It's the kind of thing that makes me look at them with a far more critical eye than I did previously...

up
0 users have voted.

Pages