Democrats quietly cut the most damaging chapter from their 2024 election review, exposing an internal fight over who is really to blame — bad for party leadership, and a boost for progressives.

• The party did a study of why it lost in 2024, then held it back and only released it in May after pressure — minus one chapter.
• The missing chapter reportedly said three things: Biden should not have run again, a wealthy consultant class is steering strategy for profit, and Democrats lost ground with Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American voters over money and jobs.
• DNC chair Ken Martin and the report's author now disagree over whether that chapter was ever handed in.
• The core claim: paid consultants who take a cut of every ad buy push corporate, big-money candidates who keep losing, because raising money enriches them even in defeat.
• The party is now $2 million in debt while Republicans sit on $128 million, fueling more attacks on Martin.

Outlook: Expect the fight between establishment fundraisers and progressives to sharpen as more outsider candidates win primaries.