In 2016, Bernie Sanders accused Democrats (Hillary surrogates) of stealing the nomination from him and giving it to Hillary. Could history be repeating itself?
Kevin Gosztola, the managing editor of Shadowproof, a reader-supported publication with journalists dedicated to exposing abuses of power in business and government, has uncovered some very interesting players behind the app created by “Shadow Inc,” that is being blamed for the Iowa Caucus fiasco last night.
Eoin Higgins of Common Dreams summed up the Iowa caucus reporting nightmare from last night in this tweet:
-Iowa Democratic Party uses secretive app for caucus reporting
-App stops working a few hours before caucus begins
-Results trickle in but show dominating performance for Sanders, death knell for Biden camp
-Counting now shut down by DNC for “quality control”
-Iowa Democratic Party uses secretive app for caucus reporting
-App stops working a few hours before caucus begins
-Results trickle in but show dominating performance for Sanders, death knell for Biden camp
-Counting now shut down by DNC for "quality control"I have that right?
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 4, 2020
Gosztola, while being clear to say he’s not suggesting a conspiracy, shared multiple screenshots of players behind the app being blamed for the Iowa Caucus fiasco.
I'm not the only one sharing this screen shot, but it seems important for this to get around to as many people as possible.
This is the "About" page for Shadow Inc, which was contracted to make the app for #IowaCaucuses. No staff named. This outfit is inexcusably secretive. pic.twitter.com/kUZorA9Pi5
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) February 4, 2020
Gosztola tweeted: I’m not the only one sharing this screen shot, but it seems important for this to get around to as many people as possible. This is the “About” page for Shadow Inc, which was contracted to make the app for #IowaCaucuses. No staff named. This outfit is inexcusably secretive.
He also shared screenshots of the names and profiles of some of the people working for Shadow Inc.
Update: While they may not list themselves on their own website, staff profiles can be found on LinkedIn.
I'll share some details on a few of them.
(Thanks to @KafkaHemingway for screen shots from LinkedIn.) pic.twitter.com/QLOQjaap8z
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) February 4, 2020
Gosztola also includes employment histories of several individuals in key positions with Shadow Inc., who were also curiously big players in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Gerard Niemira is CEO of Shadow Inc. In 2015, he was senior product manager for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, developing tools for field teams to contact voters. And in 2016, he was in charge of the tools used by volunteers.
He worked as an intern for Rep. Eliot Engel in 2005.
Ahna Rao was special assistant to CTO for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. She worked for Merlon Intelligence, which uses tools to identify money laundering. She also was an intern at USAID for 3 months and an intern for House Foreign Affairs Committee for 4 months in 2010.
Sarah Chabolla is the director of organizing and client success at Shadow Inc. She was a regional organizing director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
Finally, Kevin Gosztola tweeted:
So those are some of the people that work at the company that made the app.
I don't have a conspiracy, and anyone accusing me of promoting a conspiracy is trying to provoke conflict. All I believe is there should be transparency around the company involved in this fiasco.
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) February 4, 2020