Obama administration lawyers sue Trump campaign, adviser Stone for DNC email hack
Roger Stone Jr./Shutterstock.com
A group formed by lawyers who worked in the Obama administration sued the Trump campaign and one of the president’s longtime informal advisers on Wednesday over the leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee.
The privacy invasion suit contains no hard evidence that the Trump campaign or Roger Stone Jr. colluded with Russia to steal and release the emails, the New York Times reports. Instead, the suit relies on publicly known facts, including the recent disclosure that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer to receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
The suit also cites as evidence concessions made to Russia’s national interests during the drafting of the Republican Party platform and support for weakening or lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia.
The plaintiffs are two DNC donors and a former DNC staffer who say they were harmed by release of the emails. The suit was filed in Washington, D.C., federal court.
The suit was filed by Protect Democracy, a group formed about six months ago by lawyers who worked in the previous administration, including former associate White House counsel Ian Bassin and former Justice Department lawyer Benjamin Berwick, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports.
Other lawyers representing plaintiffs include former U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner and University of Michigan law professor Richard Primus.
Grant Smith, a lawyer for Stone, told the National Law Journal that the lawsuit “is without merit, is blatantly untruthful, and not supported by one stitch of evidence.” He said the suit “is a gigantic waste of time” and Stone and his lawyers expect it to be dismissed.
