Until 8 p.m. includes Twin Cities area

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Minnesota's presence in the 19,000 Democratic National Committee emails that exploded into public view ranges from the mundane to an intriguing plea from a donor to get access to Gov. Mark Dayton or someone within his administration.

The WikiLeaks cache, which shows the party apparatus was tilted toward Hillary Clinton while she was battling Bernie Sanders, has proved a major headache for Democrats as they gathered for their nominating convention in Philadelphia.

Already, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has said she'll resign by week's end and DNC vice chairman 

R.T. Rybak, a former Minneapolis mayor, has urged

Rybak is mentioned in one of the emails with Minnesota ties. It is an email string between a 

major fundraiser for Democratic candidates

, including President Barack Obama, and party finance officials about 

connecting an unidentified client with Dayton.

"I have a very importance client / friend needed access to someone within the administration," Les Coney wrote in the May 17 email with several syntax problems. "So I promise him I would investigate. The connection do not have to be the governor himself., just someone with clout within the administration."

A DNC official suggested that the fundraising bundler, financial services executive Coney, use Rybak as an emissary. "I told him to call rt," wrote Jordan Kaplan, national finance director for the DNC.

that he was ever approached or that he took steps to open a dialogue with Dayton. He said in a telephone interview from Philadelphia on Monday that he would not have done so.

"I don't know who it was from. I don't know what it was about. And I didn't know about it until I saw the report in the media, which is good because people can ask things but the good news is someone at the DNC was smart enough not to pass that on to me," Rybak said. "Not only because it is not right because they probably knew I would not do something like that."

Neither the governor nor his advisers were made aware of the client mentioned in the emails or the topic involved, a spokesman for Dayton said Monday.

"The governor nor his staff had any knowledge of this inquiry," Deputy Press Secretary Sam Fettig said.

Coney didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Other Minnesota mentions in the WikiLeaks emails were minor.

Several "Daily Political Guidance" emails showed party staff kept tabs on items before Minnesota lawmakers, including the bill to shift from 

Politics and Government News

Capitol View®

Brian Bakst

Author

A leaked Democratic National Committee email exchange showed a donor's bid for access to Gov. Mark Dayton. But a governor's aide says the plea never reached Minnesota.

Plea for access to Dayton among leaked DNC emails

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox