Democrats sue Trump campaign
NEW YORK — The Democratic National Committee on Friday sued President Trump’s campaign, Trump’s son, his son-in-law, the Russian Federation and Wikileaks, saying they conspired to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election by breaking into DNC computers and stealing tens of thousands of emails and documents.
The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court seeks unspecified damages and an order to prevent further interference with DNC computer systems.
“During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s campaign,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. He called it an “act of unprecedented treachery.”
Trump has said repeatedly that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia. His 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said he thinks the “sham lawsuit” will be dismissed.
The lawsuit alleges the “brazen attack on American democracy” began with a cyberattack on DNC computers and phone systems, allowing the extraction of tens of thousands of documents and emails. It said the assault enabled Russia to advance its own interests and support Trump.
The lawsuit accuses Donald Trump Jr. of secretly communicating with WikiLeaks, saying the president’s son was offered a password to an anti-Trump lawsuit in one exchange. The lawsuit blames the president, too, saying he praised the illegal dissemination of DNC documents throughout fall 2016, making it a central theme of his speeches and rallies.
The lawsuit said Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was part of the conspiracy as a senior adviser and key decisionmaker in the campaign. It said he began in June 2016 to control all campaign data-driven efforts, beginning with establishment of a 100-person “data hub” in San Antonio, and by hiring Cambridge Analytica, the social media and analytics firm.
The lawsuit said the conspiracy “inflicted profound damage upon the DNC,” costing it donations and preventing it from communicating the party’s values and vision to voters and sowing discord inside the Democratic party.
“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 presidency,” the lawsuit said.