The hacker Guccifer 2.0 published documents online Wednesday morning that were allegedly retrieved from the computer of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), including one memo that informed Democrats on how to deal with the Black Lives Matter movement.
The communication sent to employees at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), advised that when meeting with BLM activists, staff should “listen to their concerns,” but “don’t offer support for concrete policy positions.”
The memo was prepared by the DCCC’s former Diversity Director Troy Perry, who has since taken a job working with the Clinton campaign. Perry stressed in the document that the instructions “should not be emailed or handed to anyone outside of the building.”
He also noted in the memo that “Presidential candidates have struggled to respond to tactics of the Black Lives Matter movement.”
The missive was prepared on November 19, 2015, roughly three months after BLM activists shut down an event with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Seattle. It predated a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in South Carolina in February that was interrupted by BLM protesters calling on the candidate to “apologize for mass incarceration.”
The activists demanded Clinton explain her use of racialized language like “super predators” to promote crime reform in 1996.
“Okay, back to the issues,” Clinton said, changing subject, after the demonstrators were forced out of the room by Secret Service.
Under a section in the memo titled, “Tactics,” DCCC aides were told that they should designate “frontline district staff” to meet with activists. They were further advised to “limit” the number of BLM attendees in attendance at those encounters, and aim for “personal or small group meetings.”
Perry also warned staff, “Do not say ‘all lives matter’ nor mention ‘black on black crime.” He noted those responses will “garner additional media scrutiny and only anger BLM activists.”
In another section labeled, “Be a Partner & Lead From Behind,” DCCC staff were told that BLM activists “don’t want their movement co-opted by the Democratic Party.”
The source of the documents, Guccifer 2.0, has also claimed responsibility for the hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and the subsequent release by Wikielaks of thousands of internal emails last month—although Wikileaks has refused to reveal its source.
Those emails showed an effort on the part of DNC staff to hinder the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders. Top leadership at the committee have all resigned in the wake of the document dump.
Guccifer 2.0 has also regularly leaked Democratic organizational and planning documents to various news outlets, including The Hill and The Smoking Gun.
