Perez promotes lawsuit: “No one is above the law”

We receive DNC emails addressed to “Rachelle” at our Power Line gmail account. Tom Perez and Keith Ellison are both on a first name-basis with Rachelle, whoever she is. Today’s correspondence promotes the DNC lawsuit against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and other defendants. The element of projection looms large in Perez’s message, as always in the recurring themes of the Democratic Party.

The message announces “We’re suing the Trump campaign, Rachelle.” Perez writes:

Rachelle —

As a DNC supporter, I want you to be the first to know: Today, the DNC is filing a civil lawsuit alleging that Russia perpetrated a brazen attack on American democracy during the 2016 election, and found a willing partner in the Trump campaign.

Here’s why: A major part of Russia’s attack on American democracy was the cyberattack on the DNC and theft of the DNC’s proprietary information. This stolen information was then released to the public by Russian agents and WikiLeaks to damage the Democratic Party and influence the 2016 election.

We’re taking this action because we believe no one is above the law, and we must pursue every avenue of justice against those who engaged in this illegal activity against the DNC and our democracy.

This is a patriotic — not partisan — move. As Sen. John McCain said, “When you attack a country, it’s an act of war. And so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay, so that we can perhaps persuade the Russians to stop these kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy.”

We believe that Russia found a willing partner in the Trump campaign, who shared their goal of damaging the Democratic Party and helping elect Donald Trump. The Trump campaign had repeated secretive communications with Russian agents and WikiLeaks. Russian agents told Trump advisors that the Kremlin wanted to help Trump and had stolen emails and other material that could damage Trump’s opponent. And Trump’s closest political advisor, Roger Stone, had advanced knowledge of a major release of stolen Democratic emails.

It is a disgrace to our country that instead of taking actions to protect American democracy, the Trump campaign put itself first. And if the occupant of the Oval Office refuses to protect our democracy, it’s up to us.

Putting together a lawsuit like this, with all the proper documentation, has taken some time. That’s why we’re filing it today, both to seek justice and deter further attacks on our democracy.

Make no mistake about it, Rachelle: Our number one focus at the DNC is, and remains, electing Democrats from the school board to the Oval Office — and we’re winning all across this country.

We’re going to keep our eyes on the prize: taking back the House and Senate, winning back state legislatures, and moving our country in the right direction.

But winning elections also means protecting elections, and today we’re doing just that.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Tom

Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

Grammatical note: Rachelle is the “DNC supporter” addressed in the introductory clause of the first sentence, but she is not the “I” (i.e., Perez) that the introductory phrase modifies. I think the sentence should read, “Because you are a DNC supporter, I want you to know…” or “As the chairman of the DNC, I want you to know…” Perez seems to have misplaced his “DNC supporter.” Unlike the other misstatements in his message, however, it’s an honest error.

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