Two Democratic Party donors and a former party staff member have filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s campaign and a long-time informal adviser, Roger J. Stone Jr, accusing them of conspiring in the release of hacked Democratic emails and files that exposed their personal information to the public.
The case was organised by Protect Democracy, a government watchdog group run by former Obama administration lawyers. It filed the claim just short of a deadline under a one-year statute of limitations for privacy invasion lawsuits: WikiLeaks published the first archives of stolen Democratic National Committee emails, which intelligence agencies say Russia hacked to harm Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and help Trump, last 22 July.
Trump and his political advisers, including Stone, have repeatedly denied colluding with Russia, and the 44-page complaint, filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, does not contain any hard evidence that his campaign did. But it is seeking to depose witnesses and obtain campaign emails and other documents during the discovery process that is a standard part of lawsuits.
“These plaintiffs are using the law and the American civil justice system the way it was intended: to vindicate important rights and values, such as the right to privacy and the right to participate in the political process; and to deter others who might consider colluding with a foreign government for political gain,” said Ian Bassin, the executive director of Protect Democracy.
A spokesman for Trump’s outside legal team did not respond to a request for comment, but Stone called the lawsuit meritless and said he expected it to be “quickly dismissed.”
He also said “there is no evidence whatsoever” that he had advance knowledge of the hacking or that the Trump campaign was involved in it “if they were even hacked.”
The complaint largely consists of a catalogue of publicly known facts that it presents as circumstantial evidence that the defendants had the motive, desire and opportunity to conspire with Russia.
It noted public statements by the defendants and revelations about meetings and contacts with Russians that various associates of Trump concealed when applying for security clearances.
It does not name as defendants Russia, which has sovereign immunity, or WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange is an Australian citizen.
The New York Times
