The DNC goes to court

The Democratic National Committee has just filed a civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages against the Russian government, WikiLeaks, the Trump campaign, and a supporting cast of thousands arguing that the parties conspired to influence the 2016 presidential campaign. The lawsuit is filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The DNC alleges a multitude of claims including conspiracy and violations of everything from conspiracy to violations of copyright law and the Trade Secrets Act.

“One of the most notable things about the complaint,” says CBS News is the sheer number of defendants — the 66-page complaint lists WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Donald Trump, Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, former campaign worker George Papadopoulos, former campaign associate Rick Gates and ‘John Does 1-10,’ among others.” The Washington Post broke the story of the lawsuit this morning in this story.

The CBS story gives us the nutshell version of the lawsuit: “The DNC complaint alleges…that Russian hackers’ attempts, combined with Trump associates’ interactions with Russian officials, amount[] to a massive conspiracy to alter the results of the 2016 campaign.”

I haven’t had time to review the complaint, although I have embedded it below. My first reaction is that the DNC has not behaved in a manner consistent with the version of events alleged. My secondary reaction is that the lawsuit is a frivolous frolic undertaken for therapeutic and public relations purposes.

Not that it will be going away any time soon. We can at least look forward to the discovery to be taken against the DNC in the case. Given what we know about the DNC support of GPS Fusion and Christopher Steele in Steele’s work with the friends of Vladimir Putin, the Trump campaign may even have a counterclaim or two.

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