Democrats sue Russia, Trump campaign over 2016 election

WASHINGTON – The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit Friday against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, alleging they conspired to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.

The lawsuit alleges that Russia found a “willing and active partner” in the Trump campaign, which shared the goal of hurting the Democratic Party and electing Trump. It says representatives of the three groups remained in contact with each other as the cyberattack was being carried out.

“This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for president of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said Friday.

Several U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a January 2017 report that Russian agents hacked the DNC’s computers as part of a broader effort to hurt the campaign of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

In 2015 and 2016, Russian agents hacked into DNC computer systems, stole documents, and used WikiLeaks and fake personas to disseminate the stolen materials, the lawsuit alleges.

“They successfully hacked the Democratic Party in 2016, and they will be back,” Perez said. “We must prevent future attacks on our democracy, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today. ... If the occupant of the Oval Office won’t protect our democracy, Democrats will.”

Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said the campaign will fight back aggressively.

The lawsuit alleges the Russian government notified the Trump campaign it had stolen Democratic emails and other information that it was seeking to use in support of Trump’s candidacy.