Clinton campaign veterans run firm that built the disastrous Iowa caucus phone app

Chuck Ross, DCNF

CARPENTER, IA - FEBRUARY 03: Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) plead their case on February 3, 2020 in Carpenter, Iowa. Iowa is the first contest in the 2020 presidential nominating process with the candidates then moving on to New Hampshire. (Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images) — (Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images)

The firm behind the phone app that caused delays in reporting the results of the Iowa Democratic caucus is operated by three Hillary Clinton campaign veterans.

The firm has also done business during the 2020 election cycle with Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s campaign.

Iowa Democrats intended to use the app, created by Shadow Inc., to make it easier for the state’s 1,700-odd precincts to report the results of their individual caucuses. But officials at precincts across the state reported that they had trouble operating the app and submitting the voting data.

The Iowa Democratic Party, which said that it may have the results of the caucus available by Tuesday, had kept the identity of the app creator a secret in recent weeks as cyber security experts have questioned whether the technology was vulnerable to hackers.

HuffPost, citing multiple Democratic sources and campaign finance records, reported amid the caucus chaos late Monday that Shadow Inc. was behind the app. ACRONYM, a Democrat-linked technology and campaign consulting nonprofit group, owns Shadow Inc.

Shadow Inc.’s website has scant information about the firm and its employees. But a review of social media accounts shows that three of the Washington, D.C.-based firm’s top executives worked on the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign.

The CEO of Shadow Inc., Gerard Niemira, was the director of product on Clinton’s campaign, his LinkedIn profile says.

Ahna Rao, the product manager for Shadow Inc., was the special assistant to the chief technology officer on Clinton’s campaign, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Krista Davis, the chief technology officer at Shadow, was a software engineer on Clinton’s campaign, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Campaign finance records show that several state Democratic parties and multiple presidential candidates have paid Shadow Inc. for tech services.

Iowa state campaign finance reports show that the Iowa Democratic Party paid Shadow Inc. $44,666 on Nov. 15 and $18,517 on Dec. 6.

The Nevada State Democratic Party paid Shadow $58,000 on Aug. 27, 2019, for technology services, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Buttigieg’s campaign paid Shadow $42,250 on July 23, 2019, for software rights.

The former South Bend mayor came under some criticism Monday for declaring himself victorious despite the dearth of results.

Iowa, you have shocked the nation.

By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 4, 2020

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