The Democratic National Committee (DNC) filed a lawsuit in April 2018 against Russia and WikiLeaks as "co-conspirators". WikiLeaks has pushed back against this blatant attempt to punish the publishers of the DNS leaked emails. WikiLeaks lawyer Joshua L. Dratel has filed a "pre-trial motion to dismiss the first amended complaint" against the DNC's suit.
Source, Source
The dismissal mentions the fact that "WikiLeaks’s conduct — publishing truthful information of public concern as a media organization — is protected by the First Amendment", and that "imposing liability on WikiLeaks for the conduct alleged against it in the FAC would violate the First Amendment."
It also mentions how WikiLeaks, being a "user of provider of an interactive computer service" under 47 U.S.C. 230 means it's immune from civil liability. Any claims of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) are false because WikiLeaks doesn't meet the criteria of RICO violations:
(1) a RICO enterprise, and/or WikiLeaks' operation or management of affairs
(2) a pattern of racketeering activity, including the requisite predicate acts
(3) cognizable injury to plaintiff's business or property
(4) a RICO conspiracy
The dismissal also lists several Appendices (A to D) which note many instances of hacked emails being published in the press, and no legal pursuits were made against publishers in those cases. This includes the leaked DNC emails where WikiLeaks, as the original publisher, is the only one being targeted in some concocted conspiracy by the Democrats.
Appendix A
Hacked emails related to political campaigns and officials in other countries:
• Macron Emails (France) (https://wikileaks.org/macron-emails/) • AKP Emails (Turkey) <https://wikileaks.org/akp-emails/)Other Prominent Leaks and Hacks
ined/?utm_term=.478173535de5)
• The Panama Papers (https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers) and the Paradise Papers (https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Papers) are likely-hacked emails published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. • The Afghan War Diary (https://wikileaks.org/afg), Iraq War Logs (https://wikileaks.org/irq) • Cablegate (https://wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak) • The Snowden documents (https://search.edwardsnowden.com) • The Sony Hack (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/12/18/the-sony-pictures-hack-expla • Hacking Team (https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacking_Team) • The Pentagon Papers (https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers).
Appendix B
• New York Times:
• Washington Post:
• ABC:
• BBC:
• CNN:
• Wall Street Journal:
• NBC:
• The Guardian:
• Fox News:
• The Intercept:
• NPR:
• PBS:
• CNBC:
• Politico:
• USA Today:
• Vox:
• Business Insider:
• Buzzfeed:
• Huffington Post:
• The Hill:
• Gawker:
• Washington Times:
• Yahoo News:
• Salon:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/us/politics/dnc-wikileaks-emailsfundraising.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/politics/dnc-emails-sanders-clinton.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/us/politics/dnc-email-hack-hillary-clintonberniesanders.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/22/oneve-ofdemocratic-convention-wikileaks-releases-thousands-of-documents-about-clintonthecampaign-and-internal-deliberations https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/07/22/wikileaksdemocratic-partyofficials-appear-to-discuss-using-sanderss-faith-against-him https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2016/07/24/wikileaks-emailspro-clintoncnn-political-commentator-pre-checked-op-ed-with-dnc https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/25/dnc-staffersdisparaged-topparty-fundraiser-and-wasserman-schultz-ally/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/08/11/what-to-expectwhen-awikileaks-dump-turns-you-into-an-internet-folk-hero/ https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/damaging-emails-dnc-wikileaksdump/story?id=40852448 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/top-dnc-officials-wikileaks-emailrelease/story?id=41078429 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37639370 https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/24/politics/dnc-email-leak-wikileaks/index.html https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/07/25/twelve-dnc-emailsreleased-by-wikileaksthat-stand-out/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/emails-that-helped-cost-dnc-chief-debbie-wassermanschultz-her-jobshow-democratic-discord-1469399748 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/top-dnc-official-apologizesinsensitiveemail-after-leak-n615606 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/23/dnc-emails-wikileakshillary-berniesanders https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wikileaks-dump-appears-to-show-dncfavored-clintoncampaign https://theintercept.com/2016/07/22/new-leak-top-dnc-official-wanted-to-usebernie-sanderss-religious-beliefs-against-him/ https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/23/487179496/leaked-democraticparty-emailsshow-members-tried-to-undercut-sanders https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/wikileaks-releases-29-hacked-dnc-voicemails https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/23/wikileaks-hits-dnc-ahead-of-convention-competeswith-kainevp-nomination.html https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/24/top-dnc-official-apologizes-for-insensitive-emailafter-leak.html https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/wikileaks-pushes-leaked-dnc-voicemails-226344 https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-leak-clinton-team-deflected-state-cashconcerns-226191 https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/top-dnc-staffer-apologizes-for-email-on-sandersreligion-226072 https://usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/23/dnc-wikileaks-emailssanderswasserman-schultz-weaver/87475070/ https://www.vox.com/2016/7/23/12261020/dnc-email-leaks-explained https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-dnc-emails-wikileaks-2016-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/hacked-emails-dnc-weak-passwords-2016-7 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rubycramer/dnc-and-clinton-campaignoperations-startedmerging-before-s https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/dnc-cybersecurity https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/leaked-emails-show-dnc-staffersplottingagainst-sanders-cam https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wikileaks-emails-show-dnc-favored-hillaryclintonover_us_57930be0e4b0e002a3134b05 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wikileaks-dnc-berniesanders_us_579381fbe4b02d5d5ed1d157 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/politico-dnc-kenvogel_us_57951b65e4b02d5d5ed1f8e2 https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/288900-leaked-dnc-emails-revealsecretplans-to-take-on-sanders https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/288899-dnc-members-may-have-looked-tochallengesanders-on-atheism https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/289150-politico-reporter-sent-story-todemcommittee-for-pre-publication https://gawker.com/leaked-dnc-email-refers-to-potential-latino-voters-as-b-1784216318 https://gawker.com/dnc-communications-director-ordered-anti-sanders-articl-1784191906 https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/23/dnc-officials-worked-againstsanders-duringprimar/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/10/couple-dnc-emails-host-obamafundraiserclinton/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/27/email-leak-outs-the-dnc/ https://www.yahoo.com/news/bernie-dnc-email-debbie-wasserman-000000534.html https://www.salon.com/2016/07/22/leaked_dnc_email_sanders_attempt_to_moderate_israel_stance_disturbing_clinton_campaign_used_it_to_marginalize_bernie/ https://www.salon.com/2016/07/22/dnc_emails_wasserman_schultz_furiously_pressured_msnbc_after_it_criticized_her_unfair_treatment_of_sanders/
Appendix C
Other Media Organizations Publishing Documents from Guccifer 2.0 or DCLeaks Coverage of Guccifer 2.0’s Leaks:
• The Hill:
• The Intercept:
• The Daily Caller:
• The Smoking Gun:
• Buzzfeed:
• Politico:
• Vice News:
• Fox News:
• Washington Examiner:
• Washington Post:
• Gawker:
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/287558-guccifer-20-drops-new-dnc-docs https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/292391-exclusive-guccifer-20-hacked-memosexpand-onpennsylvania-house-races https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/291523-leaked-dccc-docs-detail-fl-demcandidatesweaknesses https://theintercept.com/2016/10/09/exclusive-new-email-leak-reveals-clintoncampaigns-cozypress-relationship/ https://theintercept.com/2016/09/13/colin-powell-emails/ https://dailycaller.com/2016/10/09/leaked-documents-reveal-which-journalists-are-cozywith-theclinton-campaign/ https://dailycaller.com/2016/10/07/revealed-obama-labeled-potential-politicalappointments-byrace-gender/ https://dailycaller.com/2016/09/11/exclusive-internal-party-documents-reveal-demcongressionalnominee-has-a-shoddy-business-record/ http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/dnc-hacker-leaks-trump-oppo-report-647293 http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/democratic-national-committee/guccifer-dccchack-645891 http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/dnc-researched-clinton-speechestravel-records-621985 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/darrensands/after-leaked-memo-dccc-says-theysharecommon-goals-with-bla https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/colin-powell-calls-trumpnationaldisgrace-in-personal-email https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/donald-trump-opposition-224397 https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2016/08/dccc-hack-unearths-dirt-on-partysowncandidates-104744 https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/guccifer-hack-leaks-house-strategy-228208 https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/8x3yek/democrats-used-a-cheat-sheet-to-deal-withblack-livesmatter-leak-reveals https://www.foxnews.com/tech/hacker-guccifer-2-0-claims-new-dnc-data-leak https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/leaked-papers-appear-to-reveal-dem-pay-for-playscheme https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/hacked-clinton-campaign-worked-with-nytreporter-behindscenes https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/14/here-are-the-juiciestcolinpowell-comments-about-trump-and-clinton-from-his-leaked-emails https://gawker.com/contrary-to-dnc-claim-hacked-data-contains-a-ton-of-pe-1782132678 http://gawker.com/this-looks-like-the-dncs-hacked-trump-oppo-file-1782040426Coverage of DCLeaks:
• The Intercept:
• Buzzfeed:
• The Washington Post:
• The New York Times:
• The Daily Caller:
• The Hill:
• Politico:
• The Daily Beast:
• Vice News:
• Ars Technica:
• Bloomberg:
• Wall Street Journal:
• Forbes:
• CNN:
• Fox News:
• NBC News:
• Washington Examiner:
https://theintercept.com/2016/07/01/nato-general-emails/ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/colin-powell-called-benghazi-astupidwitch-hunt-and-condi-r https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christophermassie/rice-if-rumsfeld-pentagon-haddonetheir-job-iraq-might-have https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/colin-powell-blasted-trumpschiefmilitary-advisor https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/14/here-are-the-juiciestcolin-powellcomments-about-trump-and-clinton-from-his-leaked-emails https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/us/politics/hackers-joe-biden-michelle-obamahillaryclinton.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/politics/colin-powell-emails-hack-donaldtrump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/technology/how-linkedin-drove-a-wedge-betweenmicrosoftand-salesforce.html https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/24/soros-organization-secretly-paid-salaries-for-staffersofmoldovan-prime-minister/ https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/25/leaked-soros-strategy-globalization-will-increasemigrationpressures/ https://dailycaller.com/2016/10/07/hacked-emails-hillarys-scummy-press-sec-bragsaboutpressuring-reporter-to-spike-story/ https://dailycaller.com/2016/10/06/revealed-hillary-clintons-new-email-address/ https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/291317-gop-emails-leaked-on-site-connected-torussianhackers https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/291486-thousands-of-soros-docs-released-byallegedrussia-backed-hackers https://thehill.com/homenews/media/299523-leaked-memo-shows-clinton-was-providedallquestions-ahead-interview https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/colin-powell-emails-clinton-trump-rumsfeld-228158 https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-agriculture/2016/10/clinton-camps-cozyrelationshipwith-coca-cola-216866 https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/colin-powell-clinton-emails-228135 https://www.thedailybeast.com/colin-powell-bill-clinton-is-still-dicking-bimbos https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kz99gv/colin-powell-insults-clinton-and-calls-trumpnationaldisgrace-in-leaked-emails https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/09/hacked-e-mail-account-of-whitehouseworker-exposed-in-2013-password-breach/ https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-08-16/how-george-soros-threatens-tomakeisrael-a-pariah https://www.wsj.com/articles/salesforces-m-a-target-list-excluded-twitter-1476834470 https://www.wsj.com/articles/ipo-hopeful-bloom-energy-enlisted-colin-powell-for-taxcreditextension-1476906978 https://www.forbes.com/sites/nancyhuehnergarth/2016/10/17/hacked-emails-show-cocacola-aimsto-influence-hillary-clinton-and-the-media/ https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/14/politics/colin-powell-dcleaks/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/14/politics/colin-powell-benghazi-stupid-witchhunt/index.html https://www.foxnews.com/politics/powell-says-israel-has-200-nukes-pointed-at-iran-inleaked-2015-email https://www.foxnews.com/politics/money-talks-from-ferguson-to-unrest-overseas-newreportsreveal-soros-influence https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/white-house-contractors-leaked-emailrevealssecret-service-plans-michelle-n652621 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/colin-powell-calls-trump-nationaldisgracehacked-emails-n648011 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/hacked-documents-reveal-soros-plans-for-moreinternetregulation https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/18-things-we-learned-from-colin-powells-leakedemails https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/hacked-clinton-feared-losing-women-todangerous-trump
Appendix D
Cached and Archived Copies of the Documents
Full or nearly full copies of the DNC emails are available in search engine caches. For example, on Google it is possible to search for a list of DNC emails with the following query:
• https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awikileaks.org%2Fdnc-emails • http://ddosecretspzwfy7.onion (requires Tor browser toaccess) • https://www.scribd.com/document/322685668/Pelosi-s-blm-memo-leaked-by-Guccifer-2-0 • https://www.scribd.com/document/321265855/tab-03-extreme-polarization-and-breakdown-incivic-discourse-pdf (DCLeaks) • https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3115974-Proeictul-Leanca-Soros-2014-2015-DCLeaks.html (DCLeaks)And each of these emails is stored in cached form on Google’s servers:
• https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bX-OK_56oLkJ:https://wikileaks.org/dncemails/emailid/3793+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-b-abThe same is true with Bing, where the DNC emails can be searched for as follows:
• http://www.bing.com/search?q=site%3Awikileaks.org%2Fdnc-emailsAnd copies of individual emails are available on Bings servers, such as:
The same is true for nearly all major search engines, though these caches would eventually disappear if for some reason WikiLeaks took the content down. But emails are also available via the Internet Archive, which aims at long term preservation of even deleted web pages:
• http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=site%3awikileaks.org%2fdncemails&d=4779166521560271&mkt=sv-SE&setlang=en-US&w=OMM2j4_cxK59UGa5jz4msR6eMUeC8jO4 • https://web.archive.org/web/20180402164624/https://wikileaks.org/dncemails/?q=&mfrom=&mto=&title=¬itle=&date_from=&date_to=&nofrom=¬o=&count=50&sort=0#searchresultCopies on Social Media Platforms
Excerpts from and copies of specific emails have almost certainly been posted on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and most other major social media platforms. Guccifer 2.0 originally posted many of the documents they obtained on a Wordpress blog at
• https://guccifer2.wordpress.com/, which remains online.
That's a lot of evidence of publishers putting out leaks which include the DNC's. Yet the only publisher that matters to the DNC is WikiLeaks.
Dratel defends the journalism and publishing WIkiLeaks has done, and explains how groundless and dangerous it is to allow a lawsuit against WikiLeaks:
"Those who have spent their careers defending journalism’s role in free speech recognize that liability for a media organization in WikiLeaks’s position – publishing documents provided by whistle-blowers and others who possess them without authorization – would set an ominous precedent that could not be contained. Moreover, imposing liability upon WikiLeaks here would exert a chilling effect on journalism and free speech, and deprive the public of an extraordinary amount of newsworthy information."
The DNC deputy communications director, Adrienne Watson, had an expectedly pathetic response to mount:
"Wikileaks engaged in an unlawful conspiracy with a hostile foreign power, and illegal activity isn’t protected by the First Amendment. Beyond being wrong on the law, WikiLeaks’ attempt to make this into a defense of press freedoms is offensive. The organization has allied itself with an autocratic regime that kills journalists, and together they helped elect a U.S. president whose hostility towards the free press has no precedent in American history."
These Democrats are just slinging mud in the hopes it stick, even for a second, and drag WikiLeaks into a costly legal battle. An "unlawful conspiracy"? WikiLeaks published DNC and Clinton emails, and they don't like their shit being aired int he public, which is a public service done by WikiLeaks. They have to try to discredit and bankrupt WikiLeaks through false accusations, when WikiLeaks just put the truth out for all to see.
There is no conspiracy. There is no evidence it was Russian agents or Russian-hired hackers. Even if the emails came from Russia, anyone could have given WikiLeaks the emails. Does that make it a conspiracy, only when Russia anonymously provides it? Watson's remarks just show how it's all really about being butthurt from having their dirty laundry and crooked ways exposed, and how they lost the election.
They want to reverse the clock, but can't. All they can do is try to sling mud at WIkiLeaks and Trump in a made up conspiracy theory about them both working with Russia to commit a "brazen attack on American Democracy." They just can't move on from losing face from the leaks that showed the democratic corruption. Russia has denied the hacks, and Assange denied the source was the Russian government. Once a false accusation spread in the realm of belief, it doesn't need to be true for it to affect the minds of many Americans.
WikiLeaks has launched a separate GoFundMe to raise money for this lawsuit. They mention the real problem is not WikiLeaks, but the DNS and CLinton campaign:
The emails published by WikiLeaks reveal that the Clinton campaign worked with the DNC to rig the primary election and to engage in elaborate money laundering schemes.
Astonishingly, the DNC claims that the emails of its political operatives are "trade secrets" – as if the DNC's rigging efforts were the equivalent to the secret formula for Coca-Cola. With this suit, the DNC has become a press freedom predator, attempting to abuse trade secret law to suppress public understanding.
The Democratic National Committee has billionaire backers to be able to fight the lawsuit in court for years. WikiLeaks, in contrast, is an award winning small publisher entirely funded by its readers.
It will be a hell of a battle, "a David and Goliath struggle" as the GoFundMe page says. But WikiLeaks stand on the foundation of truth. In the 12 years of operation, they haven't had to retract a publication nor have they lost a court case.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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It has been evident for years now that they care little for how obvious they are for those who haven't been brainwashed. I remember years ago when I watched faux news they would have liberals on their who couldn't even keep the smirk off their faces as they parroted the official narrative. For the masses, it doesn't matter what the truth is, as long as the "cool" people in their eyes are saying it.
It's time the deplorables begin demanding "their" president do the right thing and pardon Assange and offer him protection.
Yes, idols are accepted as "truth tellers", all they need to do is speak and it's assumed to be truth. The hypocrisy in the media and those they cheer for, democrats, doesn't matter as long as the attachment to their idolized political beliefs wins in the end.
I've just upvoted your post!
just a micro support for a fellow steemian, I hope you'll appreciate it ;)
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