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Sanders: Connecticut Gov. Can't Be Relied On At DNC Convention Due To 'Deeply Held Bias'

WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Democratic officials have rejected Bernie Sanders' request to remove two high-profile Hillary Clinton supporters from leadership positions at the party's summer convention.

Sanders' presidential campaign said in a letter Friday to the Democratic National Committee that Dannel Malloy, Connecticut's governor, and Barney Frank, a former Massachusetts congressman, couldn't be relied upon to perform their roles "fairly and capably while laboring under such deeply held bias.''

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Malloy is Platform Committee co-chairman. Frank is co-chairman of the Rules Committee.

Democratic officials responded to Sanders' request on Saturday, saying in a letter that Malloy and Frank were elected under party rules and that Sanders wasn't alleging any violations of that process.

The DNC says it reviewed the challenge, found it failed to meet the criteria and "we are compelled to dismiss it.''

Malloy officially endorsed Clinton in June 2015.

On Saturday, Sanders spent the day campaigning in California, which will hold their state primaries on June 7. Sanders hopes that winning a large share of the state's 475 delegates will give him momentum heading into the party's Philadelphia convention in July. He is barnstorming the state, holding multiple rallies a day in hopes of connecting directly with grassroots supporters.

According to CBS News' delegate count, Clinton is fewer than 100 delegates shy of the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. Clinton has 2,310, and Sanders trails with 1,536.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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