Tech firm behind app that crashed Iowa Democratic caucus is operated by Hillary Clinton campaign veterans and did work for the Buttigieg campaign

The tech firm behind the phone app causing significant delays and "inconsistencies" in the Iowa Democratic caucus is operated by Hillary Clinton campaign veterans and has worked with Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign.

The company, a Washington, D.C.-based company called Shadow Inc., is connected to the nonprofit progressive firm ACRONYM, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Gerard Niemira, the CEO of Shadow Inc., was director of product for Clinton's campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile; Krista Davis, the chief technology officer of Shadow Inc., was a software engineer for Clinton's campaign: and Ahna Rao, a product manager at Shadow Inc., was special assistant to the CTO for Clinton's campaign.

According to HuffPost, state finance records revealed that the Iowa Democratic Party paid Shadow Inc. more than $60,000 in two installments in November and December. Sources told HuffPost those payments were for the app.

The Washington Examiner reported that the Buttigieg campaign "gave tens of thousands of dollars to Shadow" in July for "software rights and subscriptions."

The app was meant to make reporting caucus results easier and quicker, while increasing voting integrity and reducing vulnerability to hacks.

Instead, problems with the app made many precincts unable to report their caucus results. The chaos meant that 0 percent of the actual results were officially tallied Monday night.

In response to the meltdown, ACRONYM sought to distance itself from Shadow Inc., calling themselves only an investor in Shadow Inc., despite Tara McGowan, the head of ACRONYM, announcing in January 2019 that her firm had "acquired" Shadow Inc.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Republican Party conducted their caucuses without problem.

Unfortunately for Democrats, the Nevada Democratic Party is also set to use Shadow Inc.'s apparently faulty app for their caucuses later this month.