President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in Washington. Trump returns from a visit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea as well as the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Ridiculous lawsuits have become the norm during the Trump era in regards to targeting a Presidential administration. Just a few weeks ago, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by various activists alleging that Trump was violating the emoluments clause.
While there are still quite a few outstanding, another frivolous lawsuit bit the dust today and this one was filed directly by the Democratic party.
BREAKING: A federal judge DISMISSES the DNC's lawsuit against the Trump campaign, Russia, WikiLeaks et al. with prejudice, and DENIES the Trump campaign's sanctions motion.
Background on the lawsuit, via @CourthouseNews.
Opinion soon. pic.twitter.com/UfX38kjEC0
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 30, 2019
By being dismissed with prejudice, it makes any possibility of an appeal extremely unlikely. In other words, the judge is letting the DNC know their lawsuit was garbage and never should have been brought. The idea that Trump could be sued for the actions of someone else, of which we still have little evidence showing exactly who it was, is crazy on its face.
The judge did stop short of sanctioning the DNC’s legal team, but that’s a peripheral matter.
"If @WikiLeaks could be held liable for publishing documents concerning the DNC’s political financial and voter-engagement strategies simply because the DNC labels them 'secret' and trade secrets, then so could any newspaper or other media outlet."
-Judge Koeltl on 1A concerns pic.twitter.com/Nc475BHSfo
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 30, 2019
Even this Clinton appointed judge understands how terrible the reasoning of the DNC was. By their telling, Trump was liable for sharing publicly available information and Wikileaks was liable for releasing it in the first place.
Both of those are insane contentions given the broadness of the 1st amendment. Had the DNC gotten their way here, every single time a newspaper publishes any leaked materials, they could be sued. While the press should be responsible for publishing clearly false, defamatory information, no one should want to live in a society where you can be sued for simply sharing information. It smacks of the illiberal moves New Zealand made after the Christchurch shooting.
In the end, Trump gets another win over the litigious nonsense he’s had to deal with since assuming office. That has to count for something.
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