Precinct 68 Iowa Caucus voters seated in the Biden section hold up their first votes as they of the caucus as they are counted at the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The meltdown of the Democrat portion of the Iowa Caucuses last night due to the phone app developed by Hillary Clinton alumni has provided a great deal of comic relief. At this point, we don’t know whether the app was simply too complicated for Democrat precinct staff to manage, or if the app was simply a massive grift carried out in best Clinton style which was never going to work, or if there was deliberate sabotage to deprive Bernie Sanders or #MayorCheat of momentum.

Regardless of the genesis, there is one candidate making hay: Joe Biden.

NEW: Biden camp NOT happy about Iowa reporting problems. Just issued this letter. pic.twitter.com/4UasHXMCGp

— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) February 4, 2020

His Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kay Bedingfield has been on MSNBC and CNN hinting that the process may not be trustworthy.

We have real concerns about the integrity of the process. I think there were significant failures in the process last night that should give voters concern.

Kate Bedingfield @kbeds on @MSNBC on Iowa caucuses: "I think anybody who watched the process last night would come away with it with concerns"

— Susan Kroll (@suekroll) February 4, 2020

And the campaign has further amplified the concerns in their original letter.

The integrity of the process is critical, and there were flaws in the reporting systems tonight that should raise serious concerns for voters. https://t.co/Ft1MgaJ0jj

— Kate Bedingfield (@KBeds) February 4, 2020

Biden was very worried about finishing in second or third place. Given the fact that Biden has spent so much time in Iowa that he’s eligible to vote there, this would have been a massive humiliation. If the internal Sanders numbers are correct, Biden finished a sad, sad fourth place:

Sanders is considered the frontrunner in the upcoming New Hampshire primary and if Biden finished fourth in Iowa (by the way, why did the Des Moines register mysteriously suppress its highly touted poll? Was it really because of pressure from the Biden camp and the DNC to not give Sanders a following wind going into the caucuses?), then his campaign would be effectively over before he ever got to his alleged ‘firewall’ in South Carolina.

While it is abundantly clear that the alleged phone app used in Iowa was not ready for prime time — given the overabundance of former Clinton staffers involved this is not a shock…the shock would have been it actually working — there is no reason to think that the Iowa Democrats will not be able to come up with plausible results. Biden desperately needs to hide this failure —  or minimize it — ahead of New Hampshire primary. The easiest way, the best way, for him to do this is by casting doubt on the integrity of the vote. Unfortunately, in this environment, that is exactly the worst thing that Biden could do. But, just like in Ukraine, Biden is putting his own personal welfare ahead of both country and party.

Can you imagine if the Ds don’t have a nominee with 50% heading into their convention? What happens if it’s a closely contested convention and the Ds can’t figure out how to count votes there?Regardless of party, this is not good for our democracy.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) February 4, 2020