POLL CONSPIRAC Y Trump campaign, Russia sued

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Democratic Party filed a lawsuit on Friday (Saturday in Manila) alleging that Donald Trump’s campaign conspired to tilt the 2016 US presidential election in the Republican’s favor.

- eral court in Manhattan by the Democratic National Committee alleges that Russia informed Trump’s campaign that it had conducted a

the release of information damaging to Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton.

It also says a close Trump advi-

the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks to disseminate some of the stolen information—as part of what the suit alleges was a wide-ranging illegal

Republican Party Chairperson Ronna McDaniel called the lawsuit “a last-ditch effort by a bankrupt party still trying to cope with the fact that their candidate

Trump tweeted that the lawsuit “can be good news in that we will

a

The Democrats allege that in series of meetings and com- representatives coordinated with Trump campaign personnel or associates for more than a year as they sought to lay the groundwork for a Trump upset.

“The Trump campaign and its agents gleefully welcomed Russia’s

- etary damages and a declaration that the defendants conspired illegally.

“The conspiracy constituted an act of previously unimaginable treachery: the campaign of the presidential nominee of a major party in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the

The

lawsuit

targets Trump’s its foreign military founder Julian Assange. and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s cam-

said in a statement. intelligence

Detailed chronology

The Democratic move comes at a time of legal turmoil for the presi

-

release of a book by James Comey that alleges Trump was obsessed with the Russia meddling probe when he sacked the former FBI chief.

Special counsel Robert Mueller and congressional investigators are probing possible Trump campaign links to what US intelligence has concluded was a sweeping effort to

Trump has consistently rejected charges that he or his campaign colluded with Russia— tweeting earlier this week about “the phony The complaint lays out a detailed chronology of activity largely in the

and previous court proceedings.

meeting in Trump Tower between members of Trump’s team and

emails and messages that Democrats Russia and Trump’s campaign. - dicted for money laundering and along with former campaign advi-

tried to arrange a Moscow trip for

- sian oligarch with reputed close ties to President Vladimir Putin.

Whether the lawsuit heads to litigation is unclear. Many countries million the DNC said it cost the organization to re-secure its serv

AFP