As the Democratic National Convention approaches, some Democrats are considering pressuring DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has long accused Wasserman Schultz of being biased toward Hillary Clinton. Wasserman Schultz has also quietly repealed ethics rules implemented in 2008 by President Obama preventing federal lobbyists from donating to the DNC. The opposition from Capitol Hill Democrats comes as Wasserman Schultz is also in a tight race against progressive challenger Tim Canova for her own congressional seat in Florida. In an unusual move, Sanders has backed Canova. For more, we’re joined by Lee Fang, investigative reporter for The Intercept.
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AMY GOODMAN: Lee Fang, you’re also looking at this whole controversy around Deborah Wasserman Schultz. There’s been, in the last week, calls, especially Bernie Sanders, calling for her to be removed as head of the DNC, because he feels she favors Hillary Clinton. He — Sanders then supported her opponent in the congressional race — in her own congressional race. But talk about Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her influence.
LEE FANG: Right. There’s been a lot of controversy about the leadership of Debbie Wasserman Schultz over the Democratic National Committee. One kind of contrast here is that as — just as Obama pushed to reform the DNC and, when he became the nominee in 2008, he implemented ethics rules that prevented federal lobbyists from donating to the DNC or to the party convention, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has quietly repealed those ethics rules. Now lobbyists can again donate to the party. And last fall, Debbie Wasserman Schultz actually convened a meeting with a number of lobbyists and reportedly handed out a menu of options saying that, you know, if you give varying amounts of money, lobbyists can win certain types of influence at the convention. So, the role of money in politics, which has been a big campaign theme in the presidential…