DNC Sues Trump Campaign, Wikileaks, Russia For Conspiracy To Win 2016 Election
NEW YORK (CBSLA/AP) -- The Democratic National Committee has sued President Donald Trump's campaign, his son, his son-in-law, the Russian Federation and WikiLeaks, saying they conspired to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election.
The DNC filed the lawsuit Friday in federal court in Manhattan. It seeks unspecified damages and an order to prevent further interference with DNC computer systems.
The lawsuit says Trump and his associates had relationships with Russia that enabled creation of a Trump-Russia conspiracy. Defendants named in the lawsuit include Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, former campaign chief Paul Manafort and campaign official Richard Gates, and former Trump advisor Roger Stone.
The DNC says Russia "mounted a brazen attack on American democracy" beginning with a cyberattack on its computers. It said the hack penetrated DNC computers and phone systems and extracted tens of thousands of documents and emails.
"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.
Former FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers in Jan. 2017 the FBI requested access to the DNC's hacked computer servers, but were denied.
Trump has said repeatedly there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Last month, the House Intelligence Committee, one of several congressional committees investigating Russian election meddling, said there was no collusion or coordination between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
The newly-filed lawsuit is not the first legal action involving the DNC hacking and the 2016 election: last August, a federal judge in Florida threw out a class-action lawsuit brought against the DNC by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who alleged the emails revealed a plot to favor Hillary Clinton over Sanders.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
