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Dems' lawsuit: Not as nutty as it sounds

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

When you don't know what else to do, sue.

To critics in both major national parties, the Democratic National Committee seems to be following that dubious legal advice with the lawsuit it filed last week that alleges collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Without naming Trump, the suit does include long-time Trump confidant Roger Stone, along with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., WikiLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, the hacker who claimed credit for the DNC breach that released private DNC emails through WikiLeaks.

Some from both parties ridiculed the suit as a distraction from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and from the cash-strapped DNC's rebuilding efforts as midterm elections approach.

In a tweet, David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama, called the DNC suit a "sideshow" that seems "spectacularly ill-timed" and helpful only to President Trump's "strategy of portraying a sober and essential probe as a partisan vendetta."

On the Republican side, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes of California scoffed that the lawsuit was "nothing more than a scam to keep their base fired up."

 

He says that like it's a bad thing. No one should be shocked that either party wants to keep its base fired up and the DNC's current needs are dire. Unlike the party's state organizations and various candidates who are experiencing a windfall of support, the national DNC has fallen way behind its Republican counterpart in fundraising.

Internally, DNC leaders also have tried to repair divisions and hard feelings between the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders after the brutal primaries of 2016. The DNC itself is getting sued by Sanders supporters alleging that the emails released by hackers show DNC employees conspiring to help Clinton win the nomination.

Legally, Chairman Tom Perez and other DNC leaders think they have a case, and they could be right.

Real damage has been done. The cyber-invaders cost DNC real money, resources and -- who knows? -- maybe the election.

...continued

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(c) 2018 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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