Federal Judge Dismisses DNC Lawsuit Against Russia, Wikileaks, and Trump Campaign
A federal judge in the Southern District of New York has dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee that alleged the country of Russia, in coordination with Wikileaks and the 2016 Trump campaign, conspired to hack its emails and publish them.
According to an Axios report, the judge — who was appointed by President Bill Clinton — threw out the case because the primary named defendant, the Russia Federation, cannot be sued in a US court of law for actions taken by its government. Also, the ruling said “second-order participants” like Roger Stone and Julian Assange cannot be held liable for disseminating the DNC’s private communications because of the First Amendment.
President Donald Trump was quick to Tweet out the lawsuit’s dismissal and cite it as vindication.
Wow! A federal Judge in the Southern District of N.Y. completely dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee against our historic 2016 campaign for President. The Judge said the DNC case was “entirely divorced” from the facts, yet another total & complete….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2019
….vindication & exoneration from the Russian, WikiLeaks and every other form of HOAX perpetrated by the DNC, Radical Democrats and others. This is really big “stuff” especially coming from a highly respected judge who was appointed by President Clinton. The Witch Hunt Ends!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2019
However, the judge’s order explicitly refused the Trump campaign’s lawyers request to sanction the DNC for bringing the suit and the judge specifically did not consider the Mueller report, which cited numerous examples of indirect coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian influencers, in its findings.
Photo credit via Olivier Douliery/Getty-Images.
