The Trump campaign and former advisor Roger J. Stone Jr. have been named as Defendants in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday afternoon in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia accusing them of conspiring in the release of hacked Democratic emails and files exposing plaintiffs’ personal information to the public, which resulted in attempts by strangers to steal their identities and obtain credit in their names; and which caused personal embarrassment, according to the New York Times. This invasion of privacy lawsuit was organized by Protect Democracy, a government watchdog group run by former Obama administration lawyers. WikiLeaks published the first archives of stolen Democratic National Committee emails, which intelligence agencies say Russia hacked with the purpose of harming Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and helping Donald Trump win the election last July 22. New York Times:
...the lawsuit would become a new and independent fact-finding investigation into the Trump-Russia issue — one that is overseen by a judge rather than by congressional Republicans, like the oversight inquiries conducted by the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, or by the Trump administration, like the criminal inquiry led by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.
“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. “They want to ensure that what they have gone through does not become something we accept as part of our democracy.”
The complaint largely consists of a catalog 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 Mr. Trump concealed when applying for security clearances.
The plaintiffs include two Democratic Party donors, Roy Cockrum and Eric Schoenberg, whose Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses and other personal details became public when WikiLeaks published the files and Scott Comer, chief of staff of the DNC finance department. Comer was caused personal embarrassment when leaked private emails revealed that he is gay.