The Democratic National Committee on Friday filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Russian government, the Trump campaign, and WikiLeaks alleging a conspiracy between the three entities to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign in order to get Donald Trump elected.
“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, the Washington Post reported.
The complaint was filed in a federal district court in Manhattan, N.Y., on Friday, and alleges that Trump campaign officials worked in conjunction with the Russian government to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
The DNC also alleges that the Kremlin assisted Trump by hacking the computer networks of the Democratic Party, stealing information, and disseminating the material found there.
The lawsuit says Russian hacking, combined with Trump associates’ contacts with Russia, amounted to an illegal conspiracy and caused lasting damage to the Democratic Party.
“This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency,” Perez said in explaining the reasoning and validity of the lawsuit.
Investigators in the Senate and special counsel Robert Mueller are probing whether Trump associates colluded with Russian efforts to influence the election.
Last month, the House Intelligence Committee said it found no evidence that Trump or his affiliates conspired to coordinate with Russian officials to tilt the election one way or the other.
