Not since JournoList, the forum of left-wing journalists who coordinated their messaging to support the Democrats, has there been such a pile of smoking guns proving that the left-wing, so-called mainstream media, are, in fact, the public relations arm of the Democrat Party. They are in cahoots with each other, as we’ve been pointing out for decades.

The Democratic National Convention was planned as an event to demonstrate party unity as Democrats from around the country come together to crown Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential nominee. But undermining that unity was a series of leaked emails demonstrating that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had its thumb on the scale the whole time. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) supporters who complained about the party’s partiality toward Hillary Clinton now have their proof that the process was rigged. “The messages [from the DNC] showed members of the committee’s communications team musing about pushing the narrative that the Sanders campaign was inept and trying to raise questions publicly about whether he was an atheist,” reported The New York Times.

Sanders supporters in Philadelphia took to the street to call to “lock [Hillary] up,” wearing “Hillary for Prison” t-shirts to emphasize that point, according to The Wall Street Journal.

While the leaked DNC emails may have unleashed fresh anger from Sanders supporters who still feel cheated as the convention comes to an end, the mainstream media have done all they can to minimize the damaging content. Jeffrey Toobin, writing for The New Yorker magazine, suggests that this story is less than meets the eye. Nothing scandalous. And in a way, he is correct. The fact that the Democratic establishment had its thumb on the scale for Hillary was well understood by many to be the case. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the DNC, had not gone rogue. She was carrying out the agenda of Mrs. Clinton and President Obama, who appointed her to that position. But someone had to be sacrificed to appease the Bernie wing of the party, and it was her.

But other issues that were exposed had more significant implications. For one thing, the leaked emails revealed a strong vein of racism and bigotry within the party establishment that would have created a firestorm if it had come from the Republican National Committee.

For another, it showed how closely and collaboratively the DNC works with the establishment media. They are effectively on the same team. The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Politico and the rest of the liberal media act as the public relations arm of the DNC. Their goal is to defeat the Republicans and their candidate Donald Trump, and to smooth the way for a Hillary Clinton victory.

And perhaps most importantly, the leak revealed the likelihood that Mrs. Clinton’s reckless and grossly negligent handling of classified materials for the four years she was secretary of state almost certainly landed those emails in the hands of the Russians, the Chinese, and various other intelligence agencies around the world, making her subject to blackmail if she were to ever become president.

Regarding the racism and bigotry, the leaked DNC emails reveal one employee calling for more “taco bowl engagement,” and another saying “I love you too. No homo. Phew.” “Imagine if the National Finance Director of the RNC used ‘no homo’ in an email?” asksTwitchy. Yet another mocked the name of a black woman, in what has been acknowledged to have been a racist comment.

Yet there seems to be little backlash from the organized left over the DNC’s own demonstrable prejudices. Following former President Bill Clinton’s crowd-pleasing speech on Tuesday night that was designed to humanize Hillary, many in the media have moved on. Sanders was apparently sufficiently appeased by the firing of Wasserman Schultz, who had previously announced that she would resign after the convention as a result of the emails.

However, the other big story related to the leaked emails—the one that the media hope gains little traction—is how the DNC was blatantly coordinating media coverage with members of the press. It appears that members of the press are violating their own journalistic standards by coordinating with Democrats. You have to wonder, who is manipulating whom?

One of the Wikileaks emails indicates that Ken Vogel of Politico submitted his entire article to the Democrats for their comments before sending it on to his editors. “Vogel gave me his story ahead of time/before it goes to his editors as long as I didn’t share it,” wrote Mark Paustenbach, DNC national press secretary, on April 30. “Let me know if you see anything that’s missing and I’ll push back.” Politico later called this a “mistake” by Vogel. Their mistake was getting caught. Otherwise they were fine with it. The practice of collusion is far too common.

We have long maintained that MSNBC is an unofficial arm of the Democrat Party. The Wikileaks emails show that Wasserman Schultz spoke with MSNBC president Phil Griffin about the comments of Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, who called for Wasserman Schultz’s resignation because of the DNC’s blatant favoritism toward Hillary. Wasserman Schultz also reached out to Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd, who questioned whether a call to Morning Joe would be a good idea.

It cannot be denied: the mainstream media’s double standard favors Democrats and liberals, and derides Republicans. While the complicit media spin stories to favor Hillary Clinton, they relish publishing stories about Republican disunity.

But this story about Democratic in-fighting and betrayal isn’t going away anytime soon.

Despite the positive press, Hillary recently complained on CBS’ 60 Minutes that she has been treated with a double standard, a higher standard than other candidates. “I often feel like there’s the Hillary standard and then there’s the standard for everybody else,” she said. She’s right, but not in the way she means it. If anyone else had done what she didwith classified material, they would have been indicted.

While she maintains that the Hillary standard for Republicans is “unfounded, inaccurate, mean-spirited attacks with no basis in truth,” the reality is that Hillary Clinton has benefitted from widespread favoritism from both the DNC and the liberal media, which are both intent on ensuring that she reaches the White House. By supporting the DNC’s efforts to elect Hillary, the media have placed their own hand on the scale in favor of a particular candidate.

While these revelations are reminders of how complicit and incestuous the mainstream media have been, that behavior is likely to continue. They have a political agenda that is more important to them than accurate and unbiased reporting. They are doing a disservice to their profession, and to this country.

Roger Aronoff