DNC lawsuit against Donald Trump is a bigger deal than you think
We have the Mueller investigation and its review of whether Russian interference is connected to President Donald J. Trump. We have the investigation and potential charges coming in the Southern District of New York against Michael Cohen for certain activity he conducted. Stormy Daniels has filed suit in California federal court against Cohen and Trump to get out of her NDA. And now we have the DNC joining the attack on Trump and potential Russian interference going directly back to him.
On Friday, the Democratic National Committee filed suit against the Russian government, Trump and WikiLeaks, alleging a conspiracy designed to change the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. DNC Chairman Tom Perez stated Friday when the suit was filed:
“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. 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.”
The DNC complaint lists numerous defendants, including some close family members of Trump- Donald Trump, Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner. It also names former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates; and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. Julian Assange and Roger Stone are named as are Aras and Emin Agalarov.
Trump cannot be happy about this latest development (suit is available here). It alleges serious charges of conspiracy, RICO violations and fraud. While he is busy casting aspersions on Roger Stone and others, one thing is clear – these charges will require substantial energy and resources to address, and the last thing that the president needed was yet another matter that is likely to be damaging to him and those close to him. The charges in this complaint, especially the RICO violations, are ordinarily charged against organized criminal outfits. Trump will likely lash out against this latest suit, maybe after he completes more rounds of golf.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.