buzzfeed--2020-02-24--The Supreme Court Will Consider Whether Adoption Agencies That Get Tax Money Can Turn Away Same-Sex

The Supreme Court Will Consider Whether Adoption Agencies That Get Tax Money Can Turn Away Same-Sex Couples

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would consider whether religious adoption agencies can turn away same-sex parents , potentially carving out a means for groups that rely on taxpayer funds to discriminate against LGBTQ people .
The case of Fulton v. Philadelphia presents a major opportunity for religious conservatives to win a ruling with national consequences that would let private organizations sidestep civil rights policies while competing for funds on equal footing with secular organizations .
The dispute began with Philadelphia ’ s Department of Human Services , which , like similar agencies in cities nationally , seizes children @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are abused or neglected , and places them with foster parents .
The Philadelphia department works with — and funds — several private groups that assist , including Catholic Social Services , run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia .
In March 2018 , nearly four years after the Supreme Court found same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry , city officials saw an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that said Catholic Social Services ( CSS ) had a policy of categorically refusing service to same-sex couples seeking to become foster parents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the CSS contract for placing children in homes — but continued to fund other parts CSS , such as group homes — the religious group sued the city .
CSS claimed its First Amendment rights to free exercise were being violated and the nondiscrimination rule was unfairly being applied to them as a form of religious hostility .
“ As a Catholic agency , ” the group ’ s July petition to the Supreme Court said , “ CSS can not provide written endorsements for same-sex couples which contradict its religious teachings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ council , Department of Human Services , and other city officials have targeted CSS and attempted to coerce it into changing its religious practices.
” A federal district court , and then a federal appeals court , had ruled against the adoption agency , finding that the city ’ s contract that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was legal and applied neutrally — for instance , the rules were identical for religious groups and secular contractors alike .
The city added in a Supreme Court brief in October it has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several years .
“ The City has never allowed contractors to turn away potential foster parents based on a protected characteristic , ” the filing said .
“ Although this longstanding policy applies to all City contractors — and although the City has long contracted with Catholic Social Services , and continues to do so for a range of other child-welfare services — CSS contends that the City ’ s decision to enforce this policy against it reflects religious hostility.
” When the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the city , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a persuasive showing that the City targeted it for its religious beliefs , or is motivated by ill will against its religion , rather than sincere opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
” The case is among several battles between the religious right and LGBTQ advocates since same-sex marriage was legalized by states and courts .
Religious conservatives insist they reserve a constitutional right to withhold endorsement of those marriages by recusing themselves from helping adoptions , declining medical services , and refusing wedding-related goods and services — even when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ First Amendment ’ s rights to free speech , religious exercise , and religious expression mean a person can not be compelled to perform tasks or make products , religious conservatives contend .
They were emboldened by the 2017 case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer , where a Missouri church successfully argued at the Supreme Court for a government grant to refurbish its playground .
Religious conservatives also won a narrow victory at the Supreme Court in 2018 for a Colorado baker who turned away a gay couple .
At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Department of Health and Human Services ’ Office of Civil Rights also said it would allow faith-based foster care and adoption agencies receive federal funds , even if they refuse same-sex parents .
The city ’ s case is assisted by the Support Center for Child Advocates and Philadelphia Family Pride , which is represented by the ACLU .
In addition to Catholic Social Services , plaintiffs include Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch , two women who support the adoption agency .
Their case is being argued by lawyers at the Becket @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Supreme Court case that found employers could refuse to pay for contraception under Obamacare .

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would consider whether religious adoption agencies can turn away same-sex parents, potentially carving out a means for groups that rely on taxpayer funds to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
The case of Fulton v. Philadelphia presents a major opportunity for religious conservatives to win a ruling with national consequences that would let private organizations sidestep civil rights policies while competing for funds on equal footing with secular organizations.
The dispute began with Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services, which, like similar agencies in cities nationally, seizes children without safe homes, such as kids who are abused or neglected, and places them with foster parents. The Philadelphia department works with — and funds — several private groups that assist, including Catholic Social Services, run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
In March 2018, nearly four years after the Supreme Court found same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, city officials saw an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that said Catholic Social Services (CSS) had a policy of categorically refusing service to same-sex couples seeking to become foster parents.
After the city cut off parts of the CSS contract for placing children in homes — but continued to fund other parts CSS, such as group homes — the religious group sued the city. CSS claimed its First Amendment rights to free exercise were being violated and the nondiscrimination rule was unfairly being applied to them as a form of religious hostility.
“As a Catholic agency,” the group’s July petition to the Supreme Court said, “CSS cannot provide written endorsements for same-sex couples which contradict its religious teachings on marriage. The mayor, city council, Department of Human Services, and other city officials have targeted CSS and attempted to coerce it into changing its religious practices.”
A federal district court, and then a federal appeals court, had ruled against the adoption agency, finding that the city’s contract that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was legal and applied neutrally — for instance, the rules were identical for religious groups and secular contractors alike.
The city added in a Supreme Court brief in October it has banned discrimination based on sexual orientation for several years. “The City has never allowed contractors to turn away potential foster parents based on a protected characteristic,” the filing said. “Although this longstanding policy applies to all City contractors — and although the City has long contracted with Catholic Social Services, and continues to do so for a range of other child-welfare services — CSS contends that the City’s decision to enforce this policy against it reflects religious hostility.”
When the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the city, it found CSS “failed to make a persuasive showing that the City targeted it for its religious beliefs, or is motivated by ill will against its religion, rather than sincere opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
The case is among several battles between the religious right and LGBTQ advocates since same-sex marriage was legalized by states and courts. Religious conservatives insist they reserve a constitutional right to withhold endorsement of those marriages by recusing themselves from helping adoptions, declining medical services, and refusing wedding-related goods and services — even when state laws ban anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
The First Amendment’s rights to free speech, religious exercise, and religious expression mean a person cannot be compelled to perform tasks or make products, religious conservatives contend. They were emboldened by the 2017 case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, where a Missouri church successfully argued at the Supreme Court for a government grant to refurbish its playground. Religious conservatives also won a narrow victory at the Supreme Court in 2018 for a Colorado baker who turned away a gay couple.
At the federal level, in 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights also said it would allow faith-based foster care and adoption agencies receive federal funds, even if they refuse same-sex parents.
The city’s case is assisted by the Support Center for Child Advocates and Philadelphia Family Pride, which is represented by the ACLU.
In addition to Catholic Social Services, plaintiffs include Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch, two women who support the adoption agency. Their case is being argued by lawyers at the Becket Fund, which represented Hobby Lobby in a Supreme Court case that found employers could refuse to pay for contraception under Obamacare.


buzzfeed--2020-02-24--Pete Buttigieg Condemned Bernie Sanders And His Movement After Losing The Nevada Caucuses

Pete Buttigieg , whose path to the Democratic presidential nomination has narrowed after early promise , offered an explicit condemnation of Bernie Sanders ’ politics Saturday after finishing behind the Vermont senator for at least the second time in three contests .
In a speech to supporters in Las Vegas , Buttigieg branded Sanders , a democratic socialist , as the leader of an “ inflexible ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats.
” “ I believe that we can bring an end to corporate recklessness and bring balance to our economy by empowering workers , raising wages , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must contribute the most in order to keep the American dream going forward , ” Buttigieg , the former mayor of South Bend , Indiana , added a moment later .
“ But that is different from Sen. Sanders ’ vision of capitalism as the root of all evil , that would go beyond reform and reorder the economy in ways most Democrats — not to mention most Americans — don ’ t support.
” Buttigieg has been honing such critiques of Sanders for weeks , but until his Saturday speech had not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pungent way .
His decision to do so now reflects a new urgency for a campaign that once was the fundraising darling of the field but now has set a deadline to raise $ 13 million to stay competitive into March .
By winning New Hampshire and now Nevada , and by running close with Buttigieg in the delegate count in Iowa , where results remain subject to recount , Sanders has separated himself from the rest of the Democratic field .
The race now shifts to South Carolina , hardly an ideal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large black electorate and Buttigieg ’ s struggles to win support from black voters .
Buttigieg 's speech on Saturday at times delivered conflicting notes .
He ripped into Sanders in one breath while lamenting the “ viciousness ” of politics in the next .
He sounded on one hand to be criticizing Sanders ’ supporters for their online vitriol and extremism — lines sure to be interpreted by those supporters as antagonistic and unwelcoming — while on the other emphasizing the need for a broader movement that welcomes all points of view @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only campaign that has beaten Sen. Sanders anywhere in the country during this campaign cycle , ” said Buttigieg , falling back on the still-unofficial Iowa results that also showed Sanders winning the popular vote there .
“ We ’ ve done it not by consolidating one extreme faction , but by growing an American majority that is united not only over who it is we ’ re against , but in what it is that we ’ re for .
Ours is a coalition hungry for action .
If we mobilize fellow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them into adversaries , we have shown that we can turn the page on our broken politics without turning off most Americans from our politics.
” Sanders ’ orbit immediately ridiculed Buttigieg ’ s remarks .
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio , who recently endorsed Sanders after his own failed presidential bid and campaigned on Sanders ’ behalf in Nevada , called his former rival “ smug.
” Buttigieg ’ s speech came after networks declared Sanders the winner of Nevada ’ s caucuses but before the full picture was known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other Democrats would finish .
Buttigieg and former vice president Joe Biden , via their top advisers , each braced their supporters for a second-place finish , based on internal numbers , though it was unclear whether Biden ’ s numbers were signaling second place in delegates , popular vote , or both .
Buttigieg ’ s team , well before substantial results were released , posted real-time delegate shares — based on caucus site tally sheets collected by precinct captains — on the campaign ’ s website .
( As of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own team ’ s count was far behind Sanders and 2 percentage points ahead of Biden . )
It was an example of the kind of aggressive spin and expectations-setting Buttigieg and his aides have been indulging in as they try to establish him as a runner-up , not an also-ran .
In Iowa , he declared himself victorious in the midst of the caucus-counting chaos , annoying his rivals and especially infuriating Sanders backers who believe their candidate was the undisputed winner , given the popular vote .
And after New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second to Sanders in the popular vote and left with the same number of delegates — what allies felt was a solid night was overshadowed by a third-place finish from Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar , who appeals to similar moderate , Sanders-skeptical voters .
Klobuchar celebrated a fundraising boost after her New Hampshire surprise .
Buttigieg sent out a fundraising SOS .
“ We 've had some of our highest fundraising days this month , but — frankly — our numbers should have been better , ” he wrote in an email to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ best shot at defeating Donald Trump , ” Buttigieg added .
“ But the reality is , if we can ’ t raise $ 13 million before Super Tuesday , we might never get that shot .
”

Pete Buttigieg, whose path to the Democratic presidential nomination has narrowed after early promise, offered an explicit condemnation of Bernie Sanders’ politics Saturday after finishing behind the Vermont senator for at least the second time in three contests.
In a speech to supporters in Las Vegas, Buttigieg branded Sanders, a democratic socialist, as the leader of an “inflexible ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats.”
“I believe that we can bring an end to corporate recklessness and bring balance to our economy by empowering workers, raising wages, and insisting that those who gain the most must contribute the most in order to keep the American dream going forward,” Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, added a moment later. “But that is different from Sen. Sanders’ vision of capitalism as the root of all evil, that would go beyond reform and reorder the economy in ways most Democrats — not to mention most Americans — don’t support.”
Buttigieg has been honing such critiques of Sanders for weeks, but until his Saturday speech had not attacked him in such a direct and pungent way. His decision to do so now reflects a new urgency for a campaign that once was the fundraising darling of the field but now has set a deadline to raise $13 million to stay competitive into March.


buzzfeed--2020-02-24--Bernie Sanders Won Nevada. In 10 Days, He Could Make It Very Hard For Anyone To Catch Up.

EL PASO — On one side of the room , at the back of Bally 's casino , Michael Bloomberg ’ s top strategist speculated with reporters about not if , but perhaps when , they would spend millions on negative ads against the Democratic frontrunner .
“ Campaigns are fluid and we 'll see… ” Across the ballroom in Las Vegas , where officials from each campaign gathered earlier this week after the latest debate , a Bernie Sanders official responded with an impassive shrug .
“ So let them , ” the candidate ’ s closest and longest-serving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turned for the exit without stopping .
It was a typical flash of bravado from the 78-year-old senator ’ s campaign .
But for the rest of the Democratic presidential field — as other candidates have begun talking openly about who among them is best positioned to stop the Vermont independent — Weaver 's challenge captured a building sense of seemingly inexorable forward-movement by Sanders ahead of the most critical juncture in the race .
Three days later , on Saturday afternoon , Sanders won the caucuses in Nevada , the third state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reflect the kind of diverse electorate that will vote across 12 states on March 3 and determine one-third of the party delegates required to clinch the nomination .
As the vote came in on Saturday afternoon , Democrats watched to see which candidate would win the race for second place .
But Sanders ’ s apparently decisive Nevada victory has set up an immediate and existential moment in the nominating process : In just 10 days , Sanders could emerge from Super Tuesday with a delegate lead that other candidates can chase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the surest , most unyielding rules in presidential politics : Once one candidate has a sizable delegate lead , it becomes difficult — at first increasingly improbable , then mathematically impossible — for another to catch up .
It was true in 1980 , with Jimmy Carter .
It was true in 2008 , with Barack Obama .
And it was true four years ago , during Sanders ’ s first presidential campaign , with Hillary Clinton .
In March of 2016 , she emerged from Super Tuesday ahead by more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permanent advantage .
If he wanted to surpass her campaign , Sanders wouldn ’ t just need to start winning more states — he would have to start winning everywhere , by significant margins .
He could keep running — and he did , until the Democratic convention — but he never had much chance to win .
Now , as the remaining candidates fight for a commanding position in the race before the 12-state contest in 10 days , Bernie Sanders is on the other side of the delegate math .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is no catching up , ” said Robby Mook , Hillary Clinton ’ s campaign manager in 2016 .
“ It ’ s too late after Super Tuesday .
Even if the field drops down to two people , that person still has to be beating him by 10 to 20 points in the remaining contests.
” “ This is the fog everybody is in right now .
If you aren ’ t Sanders , ” Mook said , “ you have to deal with this problem before Super Tuesday.
” David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s campaign manager in 2008 , said on MSNBC Saturday night that if the primary stays crowded after Super Tuesday , Sanders could have a hold on the nomination .
“ If it is more than a two-candidate race , certainly — if it ’ s a four or five-candidate race , Bernie Sanders can walk to the nomination getting 35 , 36 , 37 % of the vote , ” he told NBC ’ s Brian Williams .
He later made that more explicit .
“ But basically , if we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s March 3 and we ’ re talking about Klobuchar , Buttigieg , Warren , Biden , Bloomberg , and Sanders , and everybody ’ s in , Bernie ’ s going to win almost all the delegates he needs to build an impenetrable delegate lead .
That ’ s just math .
It ’ s not my opinion — it ’ s just simple math . ''
On Saturday morning , hours before the start of the caucuses in Nevada , Sanders was already on his plane , bound for Texas , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He arrived in El Paso , the first of four cities he will visit here this weekend , to greet an outdoor overflow crowd and a full house at the Abraham Chavez Theatre , which seats 2,500 people .
Early voting is already underway in California and Texas , states that will decide 643 of the 1,991 total delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination at the convention .
In Nevada , a similarly diverse state where Sanders has excelled with Latinx voters , he is projected to have won the support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CNN ’ s entrance poll , as well as a quarter of black Democrats .
“ When I look out at an audience like this and I see the diversity and the beauty in this audience — and let me tell you , you do look beautiful from here , ” said Sanders , a rare grin on his face as he began his speech in El Paso .
“ I feel absolute confidence that we can create a government that is based on compassion that is based on love , is based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now of greed , corruption , and lies.
” His position in the race has only recently invited attacks and attention from his rivals .
For months , Democrats largely ignored , dismissed , or even praised Sanders as a consistent and well-meaning politician who represented a wing of the party too marginal to decide a nomination .
Now , Pete Buttigieg is telling voters that his nomination would amount to “ a fatal error.
” Elizabeth Warren is calling on his campaign to release more medical records .
And Joe Biden is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gun control .
Earlier this week , officials working for Bloomberg outlined the delegate outlook on Super Tuesday based on their own internal polling , warning Democrats that if the field of eight candidates did not narrow before early March , Sanders would be “ impossible to stop.
” A starkly worded memo , published by Axios on Wednesday , estimated that Sanders could amass a delegate lead of more than 400 in the March 3 states and argued that , with “ no path ” to the nomination , the other leading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guarantee a Sanders victory .
Some Democrats balked at the memo as bald arrogance — a billionaire former Republican pronouncing such candidates as Biden and Warren dead and “ crumbled ” — but Sanders does stand to make it increasingly difficult for any one candidate to break out from the field and reduce his lead .
“ People either functionally or actually need to get out of the race before Super Tuesday , ” said Addisu Demissie , a veteran operative who managed Cory Booker ’ s presidential campaign and worked as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Otherwise , Sanders is going to open up a lead and , quite possibly , one that is too big to close.
” In the Democratic nominating process , candidates who hit a 15 % threshold in a given state or district receive delegates proportionally — a number that could become even more significant in a field where multiple candidates split smaller portions of the vote below 15 % .
“ We typically think of the threshold issue as pushing people out [ who don ’ t hit 15 % ] , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in , ” said Mook .
Howard Wolfson , Bloomberg ’ s chief strategist , forecast the next 10 days as a “ battle royale among the moderates to see who is best able to position themselves against Sanders . ''
“ It seems to me incumbent upon those of us who understand the challenge that Bernie Sanders would present at the top of the ticket to figure it out , ” he told reporters in Las Vegas .
Sanders has never pursued a typical path to the Democratic nomination .
He is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic establishment he seeks to lead .
He rarely discusses politics through the lens of the party unless he is decrying it .
He has both sued the Democratic National Committee , accusing its chairperson in 2016 of knowingly “ rigging ” the nomination in favor of Clinton , and served in the four years since as one of its top surrogates , most prominently on a multistate “ unity ” tour in 2017 .
In his first presidential campaign , Sanders openly attacked superdelegates — the party leaders and elected officials who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic nominating process — before launching a last-ditch campaign to win their support when he fell behind Clinton with voters .
Early on in his second campaign , Sanders advisers were already describing their path to the nomination as fractured : In a large field , they said , Sanders could win the most delegates with just “ a third ” of the vote — setting up the possibility of a contested national convention this summer .
“ We can win the Texas primary , ” the candidate said to cheers in El @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still coming in .
“ We can win the Democratic nomination .
We can defeat Donald Trump .
And we can transform this country .
Let 's do it !
” He was on to his usual stump speech , standing before a giant Texas flag .

EL PASO — On one side of the room, at the back of Bally's casino, Michael Bloomberg’s top strategist speculated with reporters about not if, but perhaps when, they would spend millions on negative ads against the Democratic frontrunner.
“Campaigns are fluid and we'll see…”
Across the ballroom in Las Vegas, where officials from each campaign gathered earlier this week after the latest debate, a Bernie Sanders official responded with an impassive shrug. “So let them,” the candidate’s closest and longest-serving adviser Jeff Weaver said, as he turned for the exit without stopping.
It was a typical flash of bravado from the 78-year-old senator’s campaign. But for the rest of the Democratic presidential field — as other candidates have begun talking openly about who among them is best positioned to stop the Vermont independent — Weaver's challenge captured a building sense of seemingly inexorable forward-movement by Sanders ahead of the most critical juncture in the race.
Three days later, on Saturday afternoon, Sanders won the caucuses in Nevada, the third state on the primary calendar and the first to reflect the kind of diverse electorate that will vote across 16 states and territories on March 3 and determine one-third of the party delegates required to clinch the nomination.
As the vote came in on Saturday afternoon, Democrats watched to see which candidate would win the race for second place. But Sanders’s apparently decisive Nevada victory has set up an immediate and existential moment in the nominating process: In just 10 days, Sanders could emerge from Super Tuesday with a delegate lead that other candidates can chase but never reach.
It is one of the surest, most unyielding rules in presidential politics: Once one candidate has a sizable delegate lead, it becomes difficult — at first increasingly improbable, then mathematically impossible — for another to catch up.
It was true in 1980, with Jimmy Carter. It was true in 2008, with Barack Obama. And it was true four years ago, during Sanders’s first presidential campaign, with Hillary Clinton. In March of 2016, she emerged from Super Tuesday ahead by more than 160 delegates — enough to build a permanent advantage. If he wanted to surpass her campaign, Sanders wouldn’t just need to start winning more states — he would have to start winning everywhere, by significant margins.
He could keep running — and he did, until the Democratic convention — but he never had much chance to win.
Now, as the remaining candidates fight for a commanding position in the race before the 14-state contest in 10 days, Bernie Sanders is on the other side of the delegate math.
“If he has a three-figure lead, there is no catching up,” said Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager in 2016. “It’s too late after Super Tuesday. Even if the field drops down to two people, that person still has to be beating him by 10 to 20 points in the remaining contests.”
“This is the fog everybody is in right now. If you aren’t Sanders,” Mook said, “you have to deal with this problem before Super Tuesday.”
David Plouffe, who was Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008, said on MSNBC Saturday night that if the primary stays crowded after Super Tuesday, Sanders could have a hold on the nomination.
“If it is more than a two-candidate race, certainly — if it’s a four or five-candidate race, Bernie Sanders can walk to the nomination getting 35, 36, 37% of the vote,” he told NBC’s Brian Williams.
He later made that more explicit. “But basically, if we’re — Brian, if it’s March 3 and we’re talking about Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Warren, Biden, Bloomberg, and Sanders, and everybody’s in, Bernie’s going to win almost all the delegates he needs to build an impenetrable delegate lead. That’s just math. It’s not my opinion — it’s just simple math."
On Saturday morning, hours before the start of the caucuses in Nevada, Sanders was already on his plane, bound for Texas, one of the largest Super Tuesday states. He arrived in El Paso, the first of four cities he will visit here this weekend, to greet an outdoor overflow crowd and a full house at the Abraham Chavez Theatre, which seats 2,500 people.
Early voting is already underway in California and Texas, states that will decide 643 of the 1,991 total delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination at the convention. In Nevada, a similarly diverse state where Sanders has excelled with Latinx voters, he is projected to have won the support of 51% of Hispanic Democrats in CNN’s entrance poll, as well as a quarter of black Democrats.
“When I look out at an audience like this and I see the diversity and the beauty in this audience — and let me tell you, you do look beautiful from here,” said Sanders, a rare grin on his face as he began his speech in El Paso. “I feel absolute confidence that we can create a government that is based on compassion that is based on love, is based on truth, not what we have now of greed, corruption, and lies.”
His position in the race has only recently invited attacks and attention from his rivals. For months, Democrats largely ignored, dismissed, or even praised Sanders as a consistent and well-meaning politician who represented a wing of the party too marginal to decide a nomination. Now, Pete Buttigieg is telling voters that his nomination would amount to “a fatal error.” Elizabeth Warren is calling on his campaign to release more medical records. And Joe Biden is drawing attention to his reversed positions on gun control.
Earlier this week, officials working for Bloomberg outlined the delegate outlook on Super Tuesday based on their own internal polling, warning Democrats that if the field of eight candidates did not narrow before early March, Sanders would be “impossible to stop.”
A starkly worded memo, published by Axios on Wednesday, estimated that Sanders could amass a delegate lead of more than 400 in the March 3 states and argued that, with “no path” to the nomination, the other leading candidates should step aside for Bloomberg or guarantee a Sanders victory. Some Democrats balked at the memo as bald arrogance — a billionaire former Republican pronouncing such candidates as Biden and Warren dead and “crumbled” — but Sanders does stand to make it increasingly difficult for any one candidate to break out from the field and reduce his lead.
“People either functionally or actually need to get out of the race before Super Tuesday,” said Addisu Demissie, a veteran operative who managed Cory Booker’s presidential campaign and worked as a senior Clinton aide in 2016. “Otherwise, Sanders is going to open up a lead and, quite possibly, one that is too big to close.”
In the Democratic nominating process, candidates who hit a 15% threshold in a given state or district receive delegates proportionally — a number that could become even more significant in a field where multiple candidates split smaller portions of the vote below 15%. “We typically think of the threshold issue as pushing people out [who don’t hit 15%], but it also buttresses the people making it in,” said Mook.
Howard Wolfson, Bloomberg’s chief strategist, forecast the next 10 days as a “battle royale among the moderates to see who is best able to position themselves against Sanders."
“It seems to me incumbent upon those of us who understand the challenge that Bernie Sanders would present at the top of the ticket to figure it out,” he told reporters in Las Vegas.
Sanders has never pursued a typical path to the Democratic nomination.
He is a longtime registered independent who criticizes the Democratic establishment he seeks to lead. He rarely discusses politics through the lens of the party unless he is decrying it. He has both sued the Democratic National Committee, accusing its chairperson in 2016 of knowingly “rigging” the nomination in favor of Clinton, and served in the four years since as one of its top surrogates, most prominently on a multistate “unity” tour in 2017.
In his first presidential campaign, Sanders openly attacked superdelegates — the party leaders and elected officials who have historically had a say in the Democratic nominating process — before launching a last-ditch campaign to win their support when he fell behind Clinton with voters.
Early on in his second campaign, Sanders advisers were already describing their path to the nomination as fractured: In a large field, they said, Sanders could win the most delegates with just “a third” of the vote — setting up the possibility of a contested national convention this summer.
“We can win the Texas primary,” the candidate said to cheers in El Paso on Saturday as caucus results were still coming in. “We can win the Democratic nomination. We can defeat Donald Trump. And we can transform this country. Let's do it!”
Sanders didn’t mention Nevada.
He was on to his usual stump speech, standing before a giant Texas flag.


buzzfeed--2020-02-24--Live Results: Nevada Democratic Caucuses

The Nevada caucuses are wrapping up ; the third contest of the Democratic presidential primary and the most diverse state yet to weigh in on the race .
A couple of things to know about the results : First , yes , this is another caucus , the quirky election system that brought a disaster to Iowa earlier this month .
There are a few key differences , though , between Nevada and Iowa .
For one , Nevada allowed early voting , and about 75,000 Democrats took advantage — rivaling the total participation for the Democratic caucuses in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic Party will not be using an app like the one that made the caucus reporting process in Iowa such a nightmare .
Most of the caucus basics are the same as in Iowa .
Nevada Democrats gathered at a set time ( 12 p.m. PT ) at a collection of precinct sites to register their candidate preferences by physically grouping at each site and writing their selections on preference cards — this step is called the first alignment , and early vote tallies will be considered once this grouping is complete .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ support on that first preference to be viable ( the threshold is typically 15 % of caucusgoers at a location ) , then that candidate ’ s supporters are able to realign either with a candidate who was viable in the first round or join together to make another candidate viable — this is the final alignment .
The state party will then publicly report the totals for the first alignment , the final alignment , and the allocation of county convention delegates .
There could still be issues , however .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an army of state party staff and volunteers to get the caucus data together and reported .
The party has said it intends to have the full results reported on Saturday , but there ’ s still the possibility more time will be needed to iron everything out .

UPDATE: Bernie Sanders has won the Nevada caucuses.
The Nevada caucuses are wrapping up; the third contest of the Democratic presidential primary and the most diverse state yet to weigh in on the race.
A couple of things to know about the results: First, yes, this is another caucus, the quirky election system that brought a disaster to Iowa earlier this month. There are a few key differences, though, between Nevada and Iowa. For one, Nevada allowed early voting, and about 75,000 Democrats took advantage — rivaling the total participation for the Democratic caucuses in the state in 2016. And the Nevada Democratic Party will not be using an app like the one that made the caucus reporting process in Iowa such a nightmare.
Most of the caucus basics are the same as in Iowa. Nevada Democrats gathered at a set time (12 p.m. PT) at a collection of precinct sites to register their candidate preferences by physically grouping at each site and writing their selections on preference cards — this step is called the first alignment, and early vote tallies will be considered once this grouping is complete. If a candidate does not have enough support on that first preference to be viable (the threshold is typically 15% of caucusgoers at a location), then that candidate’s supporters are able to realign either with a candidate who was viable in the first round or join together to make another candidate viable — this is the final alignment.
The state party will then publicly report the totals for the first alignment, the final alignment, and the allocation of county convention delegates.
There could still be issues, however. The caucus system is complicated and reliant on an army of state party staff and volunteers to get the caucus data together and reported. The party has said it intends to have the full results reported on Saturday, but there’s still the possibility more time will be needed to iron everything out.


buzzfeed--2020-02-24--Joe Biden’s Campaign Reversed And Said He's Supporting A Moratorium On Deportations

Joe Biden is supporting an absolute moratorium on deportations of anyone in the United States for his first 100 days in office if he wins the presidency — something his campaign had denied earlier on Saturday after immigrant advocates said they had been led to believe that was his new position .
`` Vice President Biden is absolutely committed to a 100 day moratorium on any deportations of people already in the United States , '' the Biden campaign and the Latino Victory Fund said in a joint statement to BuzzFeed News on Saturday afternoon .
`` The campaign and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this and in the mission to support immigrant communities and center all the issues important to Latinos at the heart of this movement as we work to send Donald Trump and his unmitigated assault on our national values packing . ''
The statement is an explicit reversal of one from just hours before , when a Biden adviser told BuzzFeed News that characterizing recent comments from Biden as supporting a moratorium `` is inaccurate . ''
The proposal is something progressive immigrant activists have pushed Biden and other presidential candidates on for months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday , Biden said , `` We have a right to protect the border .
But the idea — and by the way , nobody , and some of you are going to get mad at me with this , but nobody is going to be deported in my first 100 days until we get through the point that we find out the only rationale for deportation will be whether or not , whether or not you 've committed a felony while in the country.
” The Latino Victory Fund endorsed Biden days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday night Mayra Macías , the organization ’ s executive director , tweeted that Biden in a meeting with the group had committed to a moratorium on deportations in his first 100 days .

Joe Biden is supporting an absolute moratorium on deportations of anyone in the United States for his first 100 days in office if he wins the presidency — something his campaign had denied earlier on Saturday after immigrant advocates said they had been led to believe that was his new position.
"Vice President Biden is absolutely committed to a 100 day moratorium on any deportations of people already in the United States," the Biden campaign and the Latino Victory Fund said in a joint statement to BuzzFeed News on Saturday afternoon. "The campaign and Latino Victory Fund stand fully together in this and in the mission to support immigrant communities and center all the issues important to Latinos at the heart of this movement as we work to send Donald Trump and his unmitigated assault on our national values packing."
The statement is an explicit reversal of one from just hours before, when a Biden adviser told BuzzFeed News that characterizing recent comments from Biden as supporting a moratorium "is inaccurate."
The proposal is something progressive immigrant activists have pushed Biden and other presidential candidates on for months.
At a CNN town hall on Thursday, Biden said, "We have a right to protect the border. But the idea — and by the way, nobody, and some of you are going to get mad at me with this, but nobody is going to be deported in my first 100 days until we get through the point that we find out the only rationale for deportation will be whether or not, whether or not you've committed a felony while in the country.”
The Latino Victory Fund endorsed Biden days before the town hall, and on Friday night Mayra Macías, the organization’s executive director, tweeted that Biden in a meeting with the group had committed to a moratorium on deportations in his first 100 days.


buzzfeed--2020-02-28--A Major Immigrant Rights Group Is Endorsing Elizabeth Warren And Bernie Sanders

United We Dream Action , one of the largest national immigrant rights groups , has endorsed both Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders for president .
“ We have come to the conclusion that our very first endorsement in a presidential election as UWDA will go to Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders .
They are both progressive candidates who really rise above the other candidates when it comes to a commitment for a country where all people including immigrants can live without fear and thrive , ” Cristina Jimenez , United We Dream Action ’ s co-founder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is the first time the group is endorsing presidential candidates , in an environment where the Supreme Court is expected to make a decision on the future of DACA any day now , and the anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric of the Trump administration have continued to escalate .
“ For us at United We Dream Action , this election is the fight of our lives .
Over the last four years under the Trump administration , the deportation detention system has grown , and we ’ ve seen people dying in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Many of our own leaders at United We Dream have been touched by detention and deportation , and that is the current reality , ” Jimenez said .
The double endorsement comes after a process that included publishing their own immigration policy platform , member surveys , an analysis of candidates ’ platforms , meetings with candidates themselves , and asking candidates to fill out questionnaires .
The group reached out to Sanders , Warren , Joe Biden , Pete Buttigieg , and Julián Castro — Biden and Buttigieg did not meet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Castro ended his candidacy soon after the meeting .
Despite the Sanders campaign recently walking back their commitment to a temporary moratorium on all deportations , the group decided he and Warren were most in line with immigrant communities ’ needs .
“ This is another case in which a politician , in this case Senator Bernie Sanders , made a promise and backtracked , as politicians do , '' Jimenez said , before pointing back to the Obama administration failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform and deporting record numbers of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like to hold people accountable , ” Jimenez said .
“ When Obama was in office , we led a fierce movement , and pressured and campaigned for many years for him to stop the deportations of young people , and that ’ s how we were able to win DACA .
What we know is that for the next Democrat in the White House , we will hold them accountable .
”

The double endorsement comes after a process that included publishing its own immigration policy platform, member surveys, an analysis of candidates’ platforms, meetings with candidates themselves, and asking candidates to fill out questionnaires. The group reached out to Sanders, Warren, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Julián Castro — Biden and Buttigieg did not meet with the group, they said, and Castro ended his candidacy soon after the meeting.
Despite the Sanders campaign recently walking back their commitment to a temporary moratorium on all deportations, the group decided he and Warren were most in line with immigrant communities’ needs.
“This is another case in which a politician, in this case Sen. Bernie Sanders, made a promise and backtracked, as politicians do," Jiménez said, before pointing back to the Obama administration failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform and deporting record numbers of people.
“We know what it is like to hold people accountable,” Jiménez said. “When Obama was in office, we led a fierce movement, and pressured and campaigned for many years for him to stop the deportations of young people, and that’s how we were able to win DACA. What we know is that for the next Democrat in the White House, we will hold them accountable.”
Last week, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir told BuzzFeed News’ Hamed Aleaziz during an Amnesty International forum on immigration that “a tiny number of people on a case by case basis that would be outside of the moratorium. The moratorium would affect 99% of the people living here peacefully and contributing to America's economy.”
Other major immigrant rights groups, Mijente, Make the Road Action, and the Center for Popular Democracy, have endorsed Sanders — they said they understood the moratorium to mean a temporary but complete stop to all deportations, but still believed Sanders was overall the most progressive candidate on immigration.
United We Dream Action endorsed 11 progressive candidates for House seats last August.


buzzfeed--2020-02-28--Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, An

Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, And The NBA

A BuzzFeed News review of Clearview AI documents has revealed the company is working with more than 2,200 law enforcement agencies , companies , and individuals around the world .
The United States ’ main immigration enforcement agency , the Department of Justice , retailers including Best Buy and Macy ’ s , and a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates are among the thousands of government entities and private businesses around the world listed as clients of the controversial facial recognition startup with a database of billions of photos scraped from social media and the web .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ facing legal threats from Facebook , Google , and Twitter , as well as calls for regulation and scrutiny in the US .
But new documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal that it has already shared or sold its technology to thousands of organizations around the world .
In its quest to create a global biometric identification system to span both public and private sectors , Clearview has signed paid contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) , the US Attorney 's Office for the Southern District of New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the document obtained by BuzzFeed News .
The company has credentialed users at the FBI , Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) , Interpol , and hundreds of local police departments .
In doing so , Clearview has taken a flood-the-zone approach to seeking out new clients , providing access not just to organizations , but to individuals within those organizations — sometimes with little or no oversight or awareness from their own management .
Clearview ’ s software , which claims to match photos of persons of interest to online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been used by people in more than 2,200 law enforcement departments , government agencies , and companies across 27 countries , according to the documents .
This data provides the most complete picture to date of who has used the controversial technology and reveals what some observers have previously feared : Clearview AI ’ s facial recognition has been deployed at every level of American society and is making its way around the world .
The New York–based startup has claimed its controversial technology is intended as a tool for police and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America .
“ It ’ s strictly for law enforcement , ” Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That said on Fox Business earlier this month .
He noted in a Feb. 5 statement to BuzzFeed News that his company was “ focused on doing business in USA and Canada.
” But in reality , Clearview AI has also been aggressively pursuing clients in industries such as law , retail , banking , and gaming and pushing into international markets in Europe , South America , Asia Pacific , and the Middle East .
Got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this story at Caroline.Haskins @ buzzfeed.com or Ryan.Mac @ buzzfeed.com , or contact us here .
In reply to an extensive list of questions , Clearview attorney Tor Ekeland said , `` There are numerous inaccuracies in this illegally obtained information .
As there is an ongoing Federal investigation , we have no further comment . ''
Clearview has attracted a whirlwind of attention for claiming it had built unprecedented facial recognition trained on an ever-increasing database of more than 3 billion photos ripped from Facebook , Instagram , YouTube , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the New York Times , Ton-That said the company was working with 600 law enforcement agencies across the country and had provided the software , which can be used on a desktop computer or through a mobile app , to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security .
The internal documents , which were uncovered by a source who declined to be named for fear of retribution from the company or the government agencies named in them , detail just how far Clearview has been able to distribute its technology , providing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security departments to attorneys general offices , and in countries from Australia to Saudi Arabia .
BuzzFeed News authenticated the logs , which list about 2,900 institutions and include details such as the number of log-ins , the number of searches , and the date of the last search .
Some organizations did not have log-ins or did not run searches , according to the documents , and BuzzFeed News is only disclosing the entities that have established at least one account and performed at least one search .
Even with that criteria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how Clearview AI , a small startup founded three years ago , has been able to get its software to employees at some of the world ’ s most powerful organizations .
According to documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News , people associated with 2,228 law enforcement agencies , companies , and institutions have created accounts and collectively performed nearly 500,000 searches — all of them tracked and logged by the company .
While some of these entities have formal contracts with Clearview , many do not .
A majority of Clearview ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trials , most of which last 30 days .
In some cases , when BuzzFeed News reached out to organizations from the documents , officials at a number of those places initially had no idea their employees were using the software or denied ever trying the facial recognition tool .
Some of those people later admitted that Clearview accounts did exist within their organizations after follow-up questions from BuzzFeed News led them to query their workers .
“ This is completely crazy , ” Clare Garvie , a senior associate at the Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ School , told BuzzFeed News .
“ Here ’ s why it ’ s concerning to me : There is no clear line between who is permitted access to this incredibly powerful and incredibly risky tool and who doesn ’ t have access .
There is not a clear line between law enforcement and non-law enforcement.
” There are currently no federal laws regulating the use of facial recognition , though several elected officials have proposed bills .
States including Illinois have developed regulations on the corporate use of biometric data , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In that regulatory vacuum , Clearview has thrived , doling out free trials seemingly at will and encouraging law enforcement officers and officials to invite their colleagues and perform as many searches as possible .
On Wednesday , Clearview AI told the Daily Beast that an intruder had “ gained unauthorized access to its list ” of customers .
`` Unfortunately , data breaches are part of life in the 21st century .
Our servers were never accessed , '' Ekeland told the Daily Beast .
`` We patched the flaw , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security.
” The explanation did not sit well with some lawmakers , including Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden .
“ Shrugging and saying data breaches happen is cold comfort for Americans who could have their information spilled out to hackers without their consent or knowledge , ” he told BuzzFeed News .
“ Companies that scoop up and market vast troves of information , including facial recognition products , should be held accountable if they don ’ t keep that information safe.
” Clearview CEO Ton-That has been coy about his company ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News suggest his startup has deeply penetrated multiple departments and agencies there .
Among them is the Department of Homeland Security , where employees at CBP , the country ’ s main border security organization , are listed in the documents as having registered nearly 280 accounts .
In total , those accounts have run almost 7,500 searches , the most of any federal agency that did not have some type of paid relationship .
A spokesperson for CBP said Clearview was not used for the agency ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Agents at ICE have also used Clearview , according to company documents , running more than 8,000 searches from about 60 different accounts associated with a Homeland Security Investigations field office in El Paso , Texas , an ICE office in Cherry Hill , New Jersey , and a Border Enforcement Security Task Force at New York ’ s John F. Kennedy Airport .
The documents also indicate employees of ICE ’ s Enforcement and Removal Operations , the body responsible for the arrest and deportation of those in the country without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesperson for ICE told BuzzFeed News that HSI began a paid pilot program in June 2019 through its Child Exploitation Investigations Unit and noted that a formal contract has not yet been signed .
“ ICE ’ s use of facial recognition technology is primarily used by Homeland Security Investigations ( HSI ) special agents investigating child exploitation and other cybercrime cases , ” the spokesperson said .
“ ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations ( ERO ) officers have also occasionally used the technology , as task force officers with HSI and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on human trafficking investigations.
” Jacinta González , a senior campaign director at Mijente , a Latinx advocacy group , told BuzzFeed News that ICE ’ s use of Clearview in the absence of a regulatory framework is troubling .
“ This tool goes way beyond anything that is legal , and there is literally no accountability for how they 're going to use this tool , ” she said .
“ They could walk into a supermarket , scan people , see if it matches up , and deport them immediately.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Become a BuzzFeed News member today .
The documents also show that employees at 10 fusion centers , intelligence intake facilities that are recognized by DHS , are deploying Clearview across the country and in the US Virgin Islands .
One of those fusion centers in Louisiana was listed as a paying customer .
Clearview has also been used inside the Department of Justice , where the list of government organizations trialing the company ’ s facial recognition software includes multiple offices at the US Secret Service ( some 5,600 searches ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2,000 searches ) ; the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms , and Explosives ( more than 2,100 searches ) ; and the FBI ( 5,700 searches across at least 20 different field offices ) .
Spokespeople for all these agencies either declined comment or did not respond to a request for comment .
Two DOJ organizations — the criminal intelligence branch of the US Marshals and the US Attorney ’ s Office in the Southern District of New York — are paying to use Clearview .
A spokesperson for the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirm the use of any specific , sensitive equipment and techniques that may be deployed by law enforcement , ” while the US Attorney ’ s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment .
“ Government agents should not be running our faces against a shadily assembled database of billions of our photos in secret and with no safeguards against abuse , ” Nathan Freed Wessler , a staff attorney with the ACLU , said to BuzzFeed News .
“ More fundamentally , that so many law and immigration enforcement agencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privacy-invading technology peddled by a company that ca n't even keep its client list secure further demonstrates why lawmakers must halt use of face recognition technology , as communities nationwide are demanding . ''
Clearview ’ s technology may have even made it to the White House .
Documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News include an entry for “ White House Tech Office ” with a single user , who logged in back in September 2019 to perform six searches .
The White House did not confirm or deny if that was the case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff member attempted to access more information about this product , it was not an official inquiry and was not sanctioned by the White House , ” a senior White House official told BuzzFeed News .
Beyond the federal government , Clearview AI ’ s free trials have inspired facial recognition usage in hundreds of regional , state , county , and local law enforcement agencies .
The Miami Police Department , for example , has run over 3,000 Clearview searches , according to the documents .
The San Mateo County Sheriff ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as has the Philadelphia Police Department .
The Indiana State Police , identified in the startup ’ s documents as a paying agency , has run more than 5,700 scans .
The New York State Police , which has several users who have run dozens of searches , said Clearview is one of many tools used by the agency .
The agency paid $ 15,000 for Clearview licenses , according to federal spending database GovSpend .
“ The Clearview AI facial recognition software is used to generate potential leads in criminal investigations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a clearly identified public safety issue , ” a New York State Police representative said to BuzzFeed News .
The bulk of Clearview ’ s paying customers are local and state police departments .
The Atlanta Police Department , paid $ 6,000 for three licenses last year , according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News .
Officers in Wyomissing , Pennsylvania , paid $ 1,000 for a license , according to federal spending database GovSpend .
Clearview AI can be a powerful tool for local police .
A representative for the Chicago Police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two-year Clearview log-ins for 30 people — told BuzzFeed News that it is one of two types of facial recognition software the department uses .
The first , DataWorks , uses an internal library of mugshots taken in and around the Chicago area .
Clearview , meanwhile , employs more than 3 billion pictures from social media and “ millions of websites , ” according to its CEO , creating a dragnet that could encompass the world .
Users with Chicago police , whose contract with Clearview runs through 2021 , have collectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there ’ s no match [ on DataWorks ] , we try Clearview , ” a Chicago police representative said .
“ DataWorks is a closed system , so it only looks at photos we have .
But Clearview uses open source media.
” Jason Ercole , a captain with the Senoia Police Department , which is about 40 miles south of Atlanta , said he started with a free trial of Clearview before converting to a paid license and has since made one positive identification of a suspect who was allegedly cashing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not have to go through any training to obtain or use the software and noted he never uses a Clearview match as the sole basis for obtaining a warrant for arrest .
“ It ’ s just like you giving a weapon to a police officer , ” Ercole said .
“ You would hope that he uses it properly and doesn ’ t use it improperly and remembers his training .
It ’ s a good tool if used appropriately and with caution.
” Clearview ’ s propensity to hand out free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government email addresses has sometimes created situations in which law enforcement agencies appear to have no idea the tool is being used by their employees .
While the nation ’ s largest police department , the NYPD , previously denied it had any formal relationship with Clearview , the document shows that officers there have run more than 11,000 searches , the most of any entity on the document .
More than 30 officers have Clearview accounts , according to the logs .
An NYPD spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that while it does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Clearview , its “ established practices did not authorize the use of services such as Clearview AI nor did they specifically prohibit it.
” “ Technology developments are happening rapidly and law enforcement works to keep up with this technology in real time , ” the spokesperson said in a statement .
“ We are in the process of updating the NYPD ’ s policy on Facial Recognition practices to address emerging issues.
” Garvie said that these rogue uses of facial recognition are very concerning and that the public has no way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a law enforcement purpose .
“ Not only are these officers operating completely outside of the established outside procedures set up by the NYPD to run these face recognition searches , but they ’ re vastly expanding the types of cases to which face recognition is actually being applied , ” Garvie said .
Even when a police department decides Clearview is not the right fit , it can be hard to prevent officers from using it .
The Raleigh Police Department in North Carolina was a paying client but later discontinued its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moratorium on its use of the app after it was unable to get the company to fully comply with an audit .
Despite the severing of that relationship , Raleigh police officers continued to use Clearview beyond the ban on Feb. 11 and signed up with free trials , according to a department spokesperson .
Clearview isn ’ t only targeting police departments at the state level .
Multiple state government agencies are working with the company , according to its logs , including the Illinois secretary of state .
Behind the NYPD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ searches of any entity on the list , clocking nearly 9,000 scans .
A representative for the secretary ’ s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment .
Clearview ’ s client list also extends to the American education system , with more than 50 educational institutions across 24 states named in the log .
Among them are two high schools .
Those two , Central Montco Technical High School in Pennsylvania and Somerset Berkley Regional High School in Massachusetts , did not respond to a request for comment .
Somerset @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list with Somerset Berkley Regional , initially denied ever using Clearview or any facial recognition software , but later stated that a detective had received a 30-day free trial .
The documents show that each school was only associated with one account .
Neither had run more than five searches .
While most universities listed on the documents showed low search counts like the University of Alabama ( about 30 searches ) or the police at Florida International University ( more than 200 searches ) , the fact that it was being used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all alarmed activists .
In some cases , school officials had no idea it was being used .
“ This is exactly why we ’ ve been calling for administrators to enact a ban , ” said Evan Greer , deputy director of Fight for the Future , a digital rights advocacy group .
“ So much of this happens in secrecy .
A security officer shouldn ’ t be able to use this to stalk students around campus.
” A spokesperson for New York ’ s Columbia University , which had one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the list and has similarly committed to not using facial recognition , told BuzzFeed News that `` Columbia ’ s Public Safety has never tested facial recognition technology and there are no plans to use it . ''
They declined to say why someone associated with the university had tried Clearview .
Southern Methodist University first said that campus police were not using the software , but after multiple follow-ups from BuzzFeed News , a representative admitted that Clearview provided an employee with a test account .
“ SMU decided not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ official said , declining to answer further questions about why documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News showed multiple accounts tied to the university .
The University of Minnesota , which had previously committed to not using facial recognition , seemed to have a similar problem after documents showed that employees associated with the campus police department had used Clearview .
A university spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that its police department “ does not have a contract with Clearview AI.
” “ While some individual officers may have been offered trials of the software in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not and is not part of regular business operations , ” said the spokesperson .
More than 200 companies have Clearview accounts , according to the documents , including major stores like Kohl ’ s and Walmart and banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America .
While some of these entities have formal contracts with Clearview , the majority — as with public sector entities — appear to have only used the facial recognition software on free trials .
Greer said that if people focus conversations about facial recognition only on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are “ missing the bigger picture.
” “ The fact that their client list includes all these major corporations shows that private entities can also use this type of invasive technology in incredibly abusive ways , ” she said .
For a company that maintains its tools are for law enforcement , Clearview ’ s client list includes a startling number of private companies in industries like entertainment ( Madison Square Garden and Eventbrite ) , gaming ( Las Vegas Sands and Pechanga Resort Casino ) , sports ( the NBA ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cryptocurrency ( Coinbase ) .
`` While we conducted a limited test as we do with an array of potential vendors , we are not and have never been a client of this company , '' an NBA spokesperson told BuzzFeed News .
A representative for Madison Square Garden told BuzzFeed News after this story 's publication that the venue demoed the product last year , but did n't move forward with a trial .
Clearview 's logs show that two accounts associated with the sports and events venue ran more than 70 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A spokesperson for Coinbase said the company was testing Clearview because of its `` unique needs around security and compliance , '' but it was not using the service with customer data .
`` Our security and compliance teams tested Clearview AI to see if the service could meaningfully bolster our efforts to protect employees and offices against physical threats and investigate fraud , '' they said .
`` At this time , we have not made any commitments to use Clearview AI . ''
The logs also show the facial recognition startup @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with 46 financial institutions trying the tool .
A Bank of America spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it ’ s not a paying customer , but declined to explain why Clearview ’ s logs list it as having conducted more than 1,900 searches .
“ We ’ re not a client of Clearview , ” a Bank of America spokesperson said .
“ We haven ’ t been a client , we didn ’ t stop being a client , and we never were a client.
” Employees at big-box retailers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department stores have also trialed Clearview .
Company logs reviewed by BuzzFeed News include Walmart ( nearly 300 searches ) , Best Buy ( more than 200 searches ) , grocer Albertsons ( more than 40 searches ) , and Rite Aid ( about 35 searches ) .
Kohl ’ s , which has run more than 2,000 searches across 11 different accounts , and Macy ’ s , a paying customer that has completed more than 6,000 , are among the private companies with the most searches .
Employees at mobile carriers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and T-Mobile also appear in the Clearview documents .
None of these companies appear to be paying customers , but their employees are listed as having collectively run hundreds of Clearview searches .
AT & T , which searched for some 200 people , confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the company did not pay for the service , but declined further comment .
Clearview ’ s code of conduct states that individual users must be “ authorized by their employer ” to use the tool , but that seems to be more of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Clearview ’ s documents show that at Home Depot , five accounts ran nearly 100 searches .
“ We don ’ t use Clearview AI , ” a Home Depot representative told BuzzFeed News when asked for comment .
“ Curious why you thought we ’ re a client.
” Garvie was alarmed by Clearview ’ s application to retail settings , noting that it could lead to the profiling of customers for shoplifting or theft .
When BuzzFeed News reported earlier this month that Clearview AI had used marketing materials that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international expansion , ” the company was dismissive , noting that it was focused on the US and Canada .
The company ’ s client list suggests otherwise .
It shows that Clearview AI has expanded to at least 26 countries outside the US , engaging national law enforcement agencies , government bodies , and police forces in Australia , Belgium , Brazil , Canada , Denmark , Finland , France , Ireland , India , Italy , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , the Netherlands , Norway , Portugal , Serbia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the United Kingdom .
The log also has an entry for Interpol , which ran more than 320 searches .
Reached for comment , the worldwide policing agency confirmed that “ a small number of officers ” in its Crimes Against Children unit had used Clearview ’ s facial recognition app with a 30-day free trial account .
That trial has now ended and “ there is no formal relationship between Interpol and Clearview , ” the Interpol General Secretariat said in a statement .
It ’ s unclear how Clearview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in countries with records of human rights violations or authoritarian regimes .
In an interview with PBS , Ton-That said Clearview would never sell to countries “ adverse to the US , ” including China , Iran , and North Korea .
Asked by PBS if he would sell to countries where being gay is a crime , he didn ’ t answer , stating once again that the company ’ s focus is on the US and Canada .
Clearview , however , has already provided its software to organizations in countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to its documents .
In Saudi Arabia , for example , the documents indicate that Clearview gave access to the Thakaa Center , also known as the AI Center of Advanced Studies , a Riyadh-based research center whose clients include Saudi Arabia ’ s Ministry of Investment .
Thakaa , which did not respond to a request for comment , was given access to the software earlier this month , according to the documents .
In the UAE , which criminalizes homosexuality , the company ’ s logs show that Clearview has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including Mubadala Investment Company , the country ’ s sovereign wealth fund , which has run more than 100 searches .
The facial recognition software has also been used by UAE police , according to the documents , which indicate that it ’ s specifically used for the Ministry of Interior ’ s Child Protection Center in Abu Dhabi .
Outside of the US , Clearview ’ s largest market is Canada , where company logs show access to its app has been given to both public and private entities .
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country with access to the software , including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police , which is listed as a paying customer according to the documents , and the Toronto Police Service , which despite being on free trials have run more than 3,400 searches across about 150 accounts .
Just as in the US , some law enforcement agencies around the world seemed unaware that their officers or employees had signed up and used Clearview .
The Australian Federal Police said in a statement that it does not use it but declined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ records show that employees associated with the organization have run more than 100 searches — some as recently as January 2020 .
In the UK , London ’ s Metropolitan Police only told BuzzFeed News that Clearview was not being used in its recently deployed live facial recognition tool but declined to comment on the more than 170 searches noted in Clearview ’ s logs .
Some responses were more ominous .
In India , the only entity that has signed up for the software was the Vadodara City Police in the western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s records show that the department signed up last month and had only run a handful of searches .
When asked by a BuzzFeed News reporter if police in the city were still using the facial recognition technology , Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut responded with a short text and did not respond to further questions .

The United States’ main immigration enforcement agency, the Department of Justice, retailers including Best Buy and Macy’s, and a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates are among the thousands of government entities and private businesses around the world listed as clients of the controversial facial recognition startup with a database of billions of photos scraped from social media and the web.
The startup, Clearview AI, is facing legal threats from Facebook, Google, and Twitter, as well as calls for regulation and scrutiny in the US. But new documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal that it has already shared or sold its technology to thousands of organizations around the world.
In its quest to create a global biometric identification system to span both public and private sectors, Clearview has signed paid contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and Macy’s, according to the document obtained by BuzzFeed News. The company has credentialed users at the FBI, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Interpol, and hundreds of local police departments. In doing so, Clearview has taken a flood-the-zone approach to seeking out new clients, providing access not just to organizations, but to individuals within those organizations — sometimes with little or no oversight or awareness from their own management.
Clearview’s software, which claims to match photos of persons of interest to online images culled from millions of sites, has been used by people in more than 2,200 law enforcement departments, government agencies, and companies across 27 countries, according to the documents. This data provides the most complete picture to date of who has used the controversial technology and reveals what some observers have previously feared: Clearview AI’s facial recognition has been deployed at every level of American society and is making its way around the world.
The New York–based startup has claimed its controversial technology is intended as a tool for police and that it was prioritizing business in North America. “It’s strictly for law enforcement,” Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That said on Fox Business earlier this month. He noted in a Feb. 5 statement to BuzzFeed News that his company was “focused on doing business in USA and Canada.” But in reality, Clearview AI has also been aggressively pursuing clients in industries such as law, retail, banking, and gaming and pushing into international markets in Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.
Got a tip? Email one of the reporters of this story at Caroline.Haskins@buzzfeed.com or Ryan.Mac@buzzfeed.com, or contact us here.
In reply to an extensive list of questions, Clearview attorney Tor Ekeland said, "There are numerous inaccuracies in this illegally obtained information. As there is an ongoing Federal investigation, we have no further comment."
Clearview has attracted a whirlwind of attention for claiming it had built unprecedented facial recognition trained on an ever-increasing database of more than 3 billion photos ripped from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other websites. In a January interview with the New York Times, Ton-That said the company was working with 600 law enforcement agencies across the country and had provided the software, which can be used on a desktop computer or through a mobile app, to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.


buzzfeed--2020-02-27--Nancy Pelosi Isn’t Going Anywhere, But The Race To Replace Her Has Already Begun

Pelosi has never had to face another Democrat in a general election .
Two candidates hope to change that next week and set themselves to replace her when she retires .
WASHINGTON — Two years ago , when Ryan Khojasteh was running for Congress , he made an unusual pitch to voters : When the general election came around , they didn ’ t even have to vote for him .
He just wanted to come in second place .
Khojasteh , who was 24 years old when he mounted his campaign , was challenging then–House minority leader Nancy Pelosi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most heavily Democratic districts in the country , has never had to face a fellow Democrat in the general election , even with California ’ s jungle primary system , which pits the top two candidates regardless of party against each other on the November ballot .
For years , the powerful House leader has cast aside any Democrat who dared to primary her and then easily trounced Republicans in the generals .
So , Khojasteh told voters , if they wanted Pelosi to represent them , they could vote for her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they wanted a robust debate about Democratic values , they should vote for him in the primary .
This time around , a handful of progressive challengers are launching similarly Sisyphean races against Pelosi in a primary slated for next week .
But they ’ re not just focusing on trying to push the House speaker to the left .
In some ways , they ’ re running an entirely different race — one that ’ s still two years away .
There have been rumors — sometimes fanned by Pelosi herself — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will retire in 2022 , opening up the seat for the first time in more than 30 years .
If a Democrat can accomplish in next Tuesday ’ s primary what Khojasteh had hoped to in 2018 , it would not only give them an opportunity to push Pelosi on progressive issues through the general election , but it could also give that candidate a major leg up when the speaker retires .
“ Being a member of Congress to represent San Francisco is a big deal , ” Khojasteh told BuzzFeed News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get second place [ in 2020 ] it may help you.
” For Shahid Buttar , a Pakistani American organizer and rapper challenging Pelosi this cycle , coming in second would be an opportunity to push the speaker for months to come on issues she ’ s often dismissed at the national level , like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal .
Buttar also ran in 2018 and came in third behind a Republican candidate ; he garnered about 8.5 % of the vote .
Running again in 2020 just made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News last fall .
A top strategist also said that , should the campaign fall short again in 2020 , Buttar plans to run again in 2022 .
“ I don ’ t anticipate taking first [ in the primary ] , ” he told BuzzFeed News .
“ We ’ re in a boxing match .
We ’ re just jabbing right now .
We ’ re finding the face.
” And it looks increasingly possible Buttar could get his second-place win .
He ’ s put together a strong operation in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raised more than half a million dollars to date — a hefty sum for a primary challenger .
He said Tuesday that the campaign expects to raise more than $ 100,000 this month alone .
Agatha Bacelar , a 27-year-old Brazilian American immigrant , is also challenging Pelosi in next week ’ s primary .
This is Bacelar ’ s first-ever race for political office , and she told BuzzFeed News the campaign has raised about $ 80,000 to date .
It ’ s had “ very low lows ” and “ very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but if she has community support and professional help in two years , she ’ ll run again .
But even if Pelosi does retire , she , Buttar , and other progressives are concerned they ’ ll have to take on the name for years to come .
Rumors have long swirled that political strategist Christine Pelosi , the speaker ’ s daughter , may eventually run for her mother ’ s seat .
Her name and connections mean she could raise enormous amounts of money , giving progressives all the more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bacelar told BuzzFeed News she ’ s open to the idea of running for the congressional seat in 2022 , but she knows it could be a brutal race .
“ I 've heard that next cycle , there 's going to be a ton of candidates running like Christine Pelosi … [ and ] potentially Scott Wiener , our state senator , and even two of the progressive members of our Board of Supervisors working in City Hall , ” she said Tuesday .
“ And if that were the case , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a race.
” One particular challenge in recent months has been that some voters , Bacelar said , want to reward Pelosi for her role in the recent impeachment of President Donald Trump .
“ [ Impeachment ] dampened efforts in some ways , and then it ended just pretty recently , ” Bacelar said .
“ Some of the common responses we get [ from voters ] if they are voting for Nancy Pelosi is ‘ Oh , I want to support her for having stood up to Trump or for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s frustrating for many progressives who spent months pushing Pelosi to get on board with the impeachment process , though the speaker resisted until late last fall .
Buttar was among them , and he said he now believes the speaker mishandled the process .
Buttar told BuzzFeed News this week he thinks Pelosi should have impeached Trump for his alleged violations of the emoluments clause — for profiting from foreign and domestic government officials staying at his DC hotel — instead of narrowly focusing on Ukraine .
“ She said [ Ukraine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It wasn ’ t that either .
It was the hardest thing for people to understand , ” he said .
“ Failing to remove the president is worse than having not shown up at all , because now he is emboldened .
… Pelosi fired the one shot she had , and it was a weak one.
” Running against the most powerful Democrats in the country has afforded both Bacelar and Buttar national attention that progressive challengers don ’ t often receive .
Both have drawn comparisons to Rep. Alexandria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Crowley in 2018 , and they ’ re running on nearly identical progressive platforms to hers .
Khojasteh now works as a public defender , but he told BuzzFeed News he thinks any challenger would do well to adopt his strategy of being realistic with voters about winning a general election .
“ We ran our campaign not so much believing that we would 100 % win , ” Khojasteh said in a recent interview with BuzzFeed News .
“ Our goal was to get second place in the open primary because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stage — a grander microphone — to talk about issues we ’ re facing in San Francisco , the issues we ’ re facing in the country , and the issues we ’ re facing in the Democratic Party .
… I found that to resonate with a lot of people.
” Buttar told BuzzFeed News in September that he believes his third-place finish last cycle — behind Republican Lisa Remmer — is proof he ’ s already the progressive choice .
“ We established our position as the preferred progressive challenger in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The issues that prompted me to run in 2018 ” — such as Medicare for All and immigrant justice — “ all of those issues in 2019 , for the 2020 cycle , they have only grown worse in macro terms since 2018.
” Buttar also said he sees a natural fit for himself among the ranks of “ the Squad , ” as Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar , Rashida Tlaib , and Ayanna Pressley have come to be known on Capitol Hill .
“ Much of our rationale is to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a progressive vision , ” he said , referring to Pelosi .
“ It ’ s a matter of commitment to capital versus commitment to Americans .
Principles and people instead of power and capital.
” Bacelar told BuzzFeed News her campaign is also inspired by Ocasio-Cortez and other women of color who have challenged Democratic incumbents .
“ But that is a question I am grappling with — because for some people , it ’ s like a really easy connection .
‘ Oh , you ’ re the West Coast AOC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re challenging Pelosi ; you ’ re a young Latina , ’ ” she said .
“ But I also want to respect how everyone is different .
We can all bring different things to the table .
I also acknowledge that our districts are very different.
” Pelosi ’ s district is significantly whiter and wealthier than Ocasio-Cortez ’ s , and Bacelar acknowledged that the speaker ’ s fundraising prowess is a lot to contend with .
Still , she said , she thinks her time in office is starting to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ became clear to me that challenging the leadership of the Democratic Party was ... important for the survival of the planet , ” she said .
“ Also , just now that I ’ ve spent more time being a candidate and talking to people in the district , it ’ s not that shocking anymore , especially to people who are younger .
They don ’ t have that loyalty to Nancy Pelosi , and they ’ re more interested in new ideas and in a new generation of leadership.
” ●

WASHINGTON — Two years ago, when Ryan Khojasteh was running for Congress, he made an unusual pitch to voters: When the general election came around, they didn’t even have to vote for him. He just wanted to come in second place.
Khojasteh, who was 24 years old when he mounted his campaign, was challenging then–House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi, who represents one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the country, has never had to face a fellow Democrat in the general election, even with California’s jungle primary system, which pits the top two candidates regardless of party against each other on the November ballot. For years, the powerful House leader has cast aside any Democrat who dared to primary her and then easily trounced Republicans in the generals.
So, Khojasteh told voters, if they wanted Pelosi to represent them, they could vote for her in the general election. But if they wanted a robust debate about Democratic values, they should vote for him in the primary.
This time around, a handful of progressive challengers are launching similarly Sisyphean races against Pelosi in a primary slated for next week. But they’re not just focusing on trying to push the House speaker to the left. In some ways, they’re running an entirely different race — one that’s still two years away.
There have been rumors — sometimes fanned by Pelosi herself — that the speaker, now 79, will retire in 2022, opening up the seat for the first time in more than 30 years. If a Democrat can accomplish in next Tuesday’s primary what Khojasteh had hoped to in 2018, it would not only give them an opportunity to push Pelosi on progressive issues through the general election, but it could also give that candidate a major leg up when the speaker retires.
“Being a member of Congress to represent San Francisco is a big deal,” Khojasteh told BuzzFeed News. “I do think if you get second place [in 2020] it may help you.”
For Shahid Buttar, a Pakistani American organizer and rapper challenging Pelosi this cycle, coming in second would be an opportunity to push the speaker for months to come on issues she’s often dismissed at the national level, like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
Buttar also ran in 2018 and came in third behind a Republican candidate; he garnered about 8.5% of the vote. Running again in 2020 just made sense to him, he told BuzzFeed News last fall. A top strategist also said that, should the campaign fall short again in 2020, Buttar plans to run again in 2022.


buzzfeed--2020-02-27--Pete Buttigieg’s Super Tuesday Survival Plan Goes Back To The Grassroots Basics

CHARLESTON , South Carolina — Pete Buttigieg , whose presidential campaign was a surprise fundraising machine in the lead-up to 2020 , is counting on a stripped-down , grassroots-driven style of organizing to keep his candidacy alive in and after next week ’ s Super Tuesday primaries .
Campaign plans shared with BuzzFeed News call for more than 30,000 volunteers to lead get-out-the-vote efforts for contests across 14 states Tuesday , including more than 700 voter contact events .
The campaign also has deputized volunteers to launch a “ digital door-knocking ” program , using data scraped from Twitter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ account who live in Super Tuesday states via direct messages and encourage them to canvass their neighborhoods .
And , as part of a previously announced seven-figure advertising push on TV and digital , Buttigieg ’ s team is placing state-specific , amateur-style videos starring local supporters on Facebook and YouTube .
( “ I just wanted to take this time to tell you that I can ’ t think of any time in my 27 years of voting where I have been this excited about getting behind a candidate for president of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oklahoma says in one that appears to have been self-filmed in a car . )
It ’ s somewhat of a reversion for Buttigieg , the former mayor of South Bend , Indiana .
When he entered the race a little more than a year ago , he was unknown nationally and relied on volunteers to amplify his message .
After his breakout performance at a CNN town hall last March , a grassroots network initially shouldered the organizing and fundraising load .
He then catapulted into contention , culminating this month with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where he appears to have won the race for delegates , in results subject to a recount .
( Bernie Sanders won the popular vote and , like Buttigieg , has claimed victory . )
But Buttigieg didn ’ t get the fundraising boost he hoped for after that frontrunning performance .
Things have flattened to the point where his campaign announced last week that Buttigieg needed to raise $ 13 million before Super Tuesday to be competitive in those contests .
California and Texas , with their large population centers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delegates up for grabs next week .
A dozen other states and American Samoa also vote then .
It ’ s not totally clear how close Buttigieg is to reaching his cash goal .
A campaign email to supporters after Tuesday ’ s debate in South Carolina said Buttigieg was about 40 % there — or about $ 5.2 million toward the goal .
“ Every time we ’ ve laid out a vision to our supporters about how we win , they ’ ve responded with the resources we need to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Buttigieg spokesperson , said when asked if the grassroots-heavy Super Tuesday plan suggested confidence in hitting the goal .
“ For get-out-the-vote efforts , we 're investing in our strong grassroots volunteer networks to mobilize voters and strategically getting Pete 's message of unity out on the airwaves and online . ''
First Buttigieg has to get past Saturday ’ s primary in South Carolina , where aides are bracing for a showing outside the top three , given how low he ’ s polled among black voters here .
But after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former vice president Joe Biden in last week ’ s Nevada caucuses , Buttigieg has argued he ’ s the candidate best positioned to build a coalition that can beat Sanders , whose profile as a democratic socialist worries some party leaders .
And in a memo this week , his campaign lowered expectations for Super Tuesday , preparing supporters not for a bunch of wins but for a bunch of delegates that could slow Sanders .
“ Our goal is to minimize Sanders ’ margins on Super Tuesday and rack up delegates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contests , which are much more favorable to us , ” the memo stated .
“ Bernie Sanders will be the delegate leader after the March 3rd contests , but whether that makes him the prohibitive nominee is highly dependent on Pete ’ s performance.
” In addition to the grassroots measures , Buttigieg also plans to deploy more than 20 surrogates in at least a dozen Super Tuesday states , including Virginia , where he has the backing of Rep. Don Beyer .
He also will lean on campaign cochair Anthony Brown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Caucus from Maryland , and fellow mayors and former mayors such as Nan Whaley of Dayton , Ohio , and Annise Parker of Houston .
Buttigieg himself is scheduled to travel to North Carolina , Texas , Oklahoma , and California in the coming days .
`` We are building the campaign that will not only win the nomination but will defeat Donald Trump in November .
We know Pete ’ s message is resonating across the country — voters are tired of the politics of division and dysfunction , ” said Samantha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday organizing director .
“ And Pete is the candidate offering bold solutions to our country ’ s greatest challenges in a way that actually unites the country .
To propel Pete to the nomination , we ’ re running a first-of-its-kind GOTV program that combines digital organizing , paid media , and boots-on-the-ground organizing to reach millions of voters ahead of Super Tuesday .
”

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Pete Buttigieg, whose presidential campaign was a surprise fundraising machine in the lead-up to 2020, is counting on a stripped-down, grassroots-driven style of organizing to keep his candidacy alive in and after next week’s Super Tuesday primaries.
Campaign plans shared with BuzzFeed News call for more than 30,000 volunteers to lead get-out-the-vote efforts for contests across 14 states Tuesday, including more than 700 voter contact events.
The campaign also has deputized volunteers to launch a “digital door-knocking” program, using data scraped from Twitter, to target followers of the @PeteForAmerica account who live in Super Tuesday states via direct messages and encourage them to canvass their neighborhoods. And, as part of a previously announced seven-figure advertising push on TV and digital, Buttigieg’s team is placing state-specific, amateur-style videos starring local supporters on Facebook and YouTube. (“I just wanted to take this time to tell you that I can’t think of any time in my 27 years of voting where I have been this excited about getting behind a candidate for president of the United States,” Jay from Oklahoma says in one that appears to have been self-filmed in a car.)
It’s somewhat of a reversion for Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. When he entered the race a little more than a year ago, he was unknown nationally and relied on volunteers to amplify his message. After his breakout performance at a CNN town hall last March, a grassroots network initially shouldered the organizing and fundraising load. He then catapulted into contention, culminating this month with a strong performance in the Iowa caucuses, where he appears to have won the race for delegates, in results subject to a recount. (Bernie Sanders won the popular vote and, like Buttigieg, has claimed victory.)
But Buttigieg didn’t get the fundraising boost he hoped for after that frontrunning performance. Things have flattened to the point where his campaign announced last week that Buttigieg needed to raise $13 million before Super Tuesday to be competitive in those contests. California and Texas, with their large population centers and pricey media markets, have the most delegates up for grabs next week. A dozen other states and American Samoa also vote then.
It’s not totally clear how close Buttigieg is to reaching his cash goal. A campaign email to supporters after Tuesday’s debate in South Carolina said Buttigieg was about 40% there — or about $5.2 million toward the goal.
“Every time we’ve laid out a vision to our supporters about how we win, they’ve responded with the resources we need to make it happen,” Ben Halle, a Buttigieg spokesperson, said when asked if the grassroots-heavy Super Tuesday plan suggested confidence in hitting the goal. “For get-out-the-vote efforts, we're investing in our strong grassroots volunteer networks to mobilize voters and strategically getting Pete's message of unity out on the airwaves and online."
First Buttigieg has to get past Saturday’s primary in South Carolina, where aides are bracing for a showing outside the top three, given how low he’s polled among black voters here. But after finishing a distant third behind Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden in last week’s Nevada caucuses, Buttigieg has argued he’s the candidate best positioned to build a coalition that can beat Sanders, whose profile as a democratic socialist worries some party leaders. And in a memo this week, his campaign lowered expectations for Super Tuesday, preparing supporters not for a bunch of wins but for a bunch of delegates that could slow Sanders.
“Our goal is to minimize Sanders’ margins on Super Tuesday and rack up delegates in the March 10th and March 17th contests, which are much more favorable to us,” the memo stated.
“Bernie Sanders will be the delegate leader after the March 3rd contests, but whether that makes him the prohibitive nominee is highly dependent on Pete’s performance.”
In addition to the grassroots measures, Buttigieg also plans to deploy more than 20 surrogates in at least a dozen Super Tuesday states, including Virginia, where he has the backing of Rep. Don Beyer. He also will lean on campaign cochair Anthony Brown, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus from Maryland, and fellow mayors and former mayors such as Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, and Annise Parker of Houston. Buttigieg himself is scheduled to travel to North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and California in the coming days.
"We are building the campaign that will not only win the nomination but will defeat Donald Trump in November. We know Pete’s message is resonating across the country — voters are tired of the politics of division and dysfunction,” said Samantha Steelman, the campaign’s Super Tuesday organizing director. “And Pete is the candidate offering bold solutions to our country’s greatest challenges in a way that actually unites the country. To propel Pete to the nomination, we’re running a first-of-its-kind GOTV program that combines digital organizing, paid media, and boots-on-the-ground organizing to reach millions of voters ahead of Super Tuesday.”