Class Action Calls
DNC ‘The Ultimate Ponzi Scheme’
by Ian Mason 20 Jun 2017Fort Lauderdale, FL
Backers of Bernie Sanders are
suing the Democratic National Committee (DNC)
for fraud based on last summer’s hacks revealing systemic bias for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary campaign.
The class-action lawsuit, Wilding
v. DNC Services Corp., is underway in federal court in Florida,
where it is awaiting a ruling on the DNC’s motion to dismiss heard in April. The plaintiff class, Bernie
donors who also gave money to the DNC under the assumption of its impartiality
in the 2016 primary contest between Clinton and Sanders. The suit alleges
fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and a consumer
protection violation.
The claims are based on the celebrated leaked emails and
memos from the “Guccifer
2.0” hacks last June. The leaks appear to show direct assistance of Secretary
Clinton to the detriment of Senator Sanders. The novel legal theory is based on
the donors having been duped by the DNC’s claims of impartiality.
Attorney Jared Beck of Beck & Lee Trial Lawyers, the
firm representing the class of Bernie supporters, spoke with Breitbart News
about the developing case and the surrounding controversies.
The entire case shot into the public eye
when, according
to a notice Beck & Lee filed with the court, their office
received a call asking for information about the case from a person using a
voice-altering device. A quick lookup of the number revealed it was from a
number associated with the congressional office of DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL). The DNC’s attorney’s quickly denied any
knowledge of the incident, claim the number is from an unused office and is
possibly the result of number “spoofing” by an outside source.
Asked about the call, Beck told Breitbart News:
The incident was startling at the time it happened and we
are still very puzzled and concerned by it. The caller had altered his or
her voice to be unrecognizable, and refused to identify themselves. But
please understand that this is just one in a number of disturbing events
that have occurred throughout the case … I have no idea who was behind the
call, but according to the Defendants, the matter has been referred to the
Capitol Police.
As for the case itself, Beck was confident that general
common law principles of fraud and misrepresentation could sustain the
Bernie-donors’ claim. “If there is anything “new,” it is the application of
these principles to the sphere of political campaigns,” he said.
Beck went on to describe that application as follows:
One might view this application as a natural consequence
of Citizens United – an opinion that crystallizes campaign contributions
as the quintessential form of American political participation. By
equating political participation with financial contribution, Citizens
United, by inference, incorporates all of the common-law principles of
fraud, negligent misrepresentation, etc. that typically govern in the economic
sphere. Americans have a cognizable interest in the transparent and fair
conduct of primary campaigns precisely because they, through their campaign
contributions, are also financiers of the campaign.
Asked to make an analogy to a more traditional case of
fraud outside the political realm, Beck compared the DNC’s actions with a
“Ponzi-scheme,” in which investors buy in based on fraudulent returns that are
really just earlier investors:
I would think of this as a case against the ultimate
political Ponzi scheme. We are used to the concept of Ponzi schemes in the
investment world. In my view, the DNC is really no different: it was purporting
to be “selling” a fair primary process but in reality was serving as a front
for the Hillary
Clinton campaign. People lost well over $200 million as a result.
Beck told Breitbart News that there bringing the facts of
the DNC’s conduct to light:
There are two main goals to the litigation: obtaining
justice for our clients through whatever legal remedies are available; and
having a trial on the issues, so that the public may know the truth of what
happened with respect to the 2016 Democratic nominating process.
The circumstances by which the DNC leaks came to light,
allegedly by hacks by Russian government agents, has been a major public
controversy for nearly a year. If the case survives the motion to dismiss, discovery
will begin, potentially bringing a trove of new information to light about the
DNC’s internal operations and how they came to be the apparent victim of
Russian hacking.
Beck was optimistic about the prospects for discovery:
If we do get to the discovery phase, I think it is safe
to say that we expect to find much more evidence of the DNC’s misconduct, with
the publicly released material being only the tip of the iceberg. Also,
we will be able to place all of the material witnesses under oath and take
their depositions. In addition, we will be able to conduct discovery on
the question of how the DNC’s internal documents came to be placed into the
public domain by Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks, which may ultimately be the most
important question of all.
It is unclear when the court will rule on the motion to
dismiss but Judge William Zloch told the parties in April it would “take
some time.”
Guccifer
Marcel Lazar
Lehel (Nick name Guccifer)
hacked Sidney Blumenthal’s emails.
Note: Sidney
Blumenthal’s emails were hacked by Marcel
Lazar Lehel (Nick name Guccifer), was a consultant for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton
Foundation, a consultant for the American
Bridge 21st Century, is a consultant for the Media Matters for America and Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s friend & confidant.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the Center for American Progress, the Center for International Policy and the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a co-chair, national finance council for
the Ready PAC (Ready For Hillary), was
a contributor for the American Bridge
21st Century, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society,
a supporter for the Center for American
Progress and Nancy Pelosi was
invited to his 2013 wedding reception.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Media
Matters for America, the Center for
American Progress and the Center for
International Policy.
Brad Woodhouse
was the president of the American Bridge
21st Century and a communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Tony
Rodham was an employee for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC) and is Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s brother.
Eric Alterman
was a senior fellow at the Media Matters
for America and is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Shirley Sagawa is
a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress and was Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s deputy chief of staff.
Richard R. Verma
was a fellow at the Center for American
Progress, a director at the Bill,
Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s principal adviser.
Clyde Williams
was a VP for the Center for American
Progress and a political director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Jennifer M.
Palmieri was a SVP for the Center
for American Progress, a communications director for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential
campaign and a national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Clyde Williams was
a VP for the Center for American Progress and a political
director for the Democratic National
Committee (DNC).
Madeleine K.
Albright is a director at
the Center for American Progress, an
advisory board member for the Truman
Center for National Policy and an advisory board member for the Truman National
Security Project.
Michael D. McCurry
is an advisory board member for the Truman
Center for National Policy, an advisory board member for the Truman National
Security Project and was a director of communications for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Gabrielle
Giffords is an advisory board member for the Truman
Center for National Policy, an advisory board member for the Truman National
Security Project, a co-founder for the Americans
for Responsible Solutions and a friend of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Americans
for Responsible Solutions is a “Gun
Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns.
Debbie
Wasserman Schultz is a friend of Gabrielle
Giffords and was the chair for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC).
ActBlue
raises funds online for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC).
Darcy Burner was
a director at ActBlue, and is a
director at the Center for International
Policy.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Center for International Policy, the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Terence R.
McAuliffe was a director at the Bill,
Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and a chairman for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Smith Bagley was a
funder for the Bill, Hillary &
Chelsea Clinton Foundation and a finance vice chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Andrew Tobias was
a funder for the Bill, Hillary &
Chelsea Clinton Foundation and is the treasurer for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Christopher G.
Korge was a funder for the Bill, Hillary
& Chelsea Clinton Foundation, a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and a finance
vice chairman for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC).
Ready
PAC (Ready For Hillary)
supported the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign.
Elizabeth
Frawley Bagley was a funder for the Bill,
Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential
campaign and a national advisory board chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Beth E. Dozoretz
was a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary
Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and a finance chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Grace
Meng was a fundraiser for the 2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and is the vice chair for the
Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Minyon
Moore was a fundraiser for the 2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, a guest at Chelsea V. Clinton’s 2010 wedding and
a CEO for the Democratic National
Committee (DNC).
Lily
Adams was the Iowa communications director for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, a deputy
communications director for the Democratic National
Committee (DNC) and is Cecile
Richards’s daughter.
Cecile Richards
is Lily Adams’s mother, the
president of the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America and was Nancy
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff.
Philip D. Murphy
was a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary
Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and a national finance chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Karen Finney was
a communications director for
the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton
presidential campaign and a communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Josh
Wachs was a fundraiser for the 2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and a COO for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Maureen White was
a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign and a national finance chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Margaret A. Williams
was a transition team co-chair for
the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton
presidential campaign, Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s chief of staff and a deputy press secretary for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Richard Sullivan
was a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary
Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and a national finance director for
the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Frederick S. Humphries Jr. was a
fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign and a southern political director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Carol Pensky was a
fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign and a treasurer for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Tim
Kaine was the vice presidential candidate, fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential
campaign and a chairman for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC).
Lee Satterfield
was a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary
Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, a special assistant for William J. Clinton and a deputy COO
for the Democratic National Committee
(DNC).
Alan C. Kessler was
a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign and a finance vice chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Marvin S. Rosen was
a fundraiser for the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign and a finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Fancy Bear hacked the
computers in the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign, hacked the computers in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and hacked John D. Podesta’s email.
John D. Podesta’s
emails were hacked by Fancy Bear,
was the campaign chairman for the 2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign and is the founder of the Center for American Progress.
Madeleine K.
Albright is a director at the Center
for American Progress, an advisory board member for the Truman Center for National Policy and an
advisory board member for the Truman
National Security Project.
Michael D. McCurry
is an advisory board member for the Truman
Center for National Policy, an advisory board member for the Truman National
Security Project and was a director of communications for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Gabrielle
Giffords is an advisory board member for the Truman Center for National Policy, an advisory board member for
the Truman National
Security Project, a co-founder for the Americans
for Responsible Solutions and a friend of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Americans
for Responsible Solutions is a “Gun
Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns.
Debbie
Wasserman Schultz is a friend of Gabrielle
Giffords and was the chair for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC).
ActBlue
raises funds online for the Democratic
National Committee (DNC).
Darcy Burner was
a director at ActBlue and is a
director at the Center for International
Policy.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Center for International Policy, the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Cecile Richards
is the president of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America and was Nancy Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff.
Nancy
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff was Cecile
Richards, was invited to George
Soros’s 2013 wedding reception, is the minority leader for the U.S. House of Representatives and Christine Pelosi’s mother.
Christine Pelosi
is Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, was John F. Tierney’s chief of staff.
John F. Tierney’s
chief of staff was Christine Pelosi,
a former member of the U.S. House of
Representatives and a member of the Congressional
Progressive Caucus.
Bernard Sanders is
a member of the Congressional Progressive
Caucus, was the candidate for the 2016
Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, and a speaker for the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Hillary Rodham
Clinton was the nominee for the 2016
Democratic National Convention.
William J. Clinton
was a speaker for the 2016 Democratic
National Convention.
Gabrielle
Giffords was a speaker for the 2016 Democratic
National Convention, and is a friend of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Debbie
Wasserman Schultz is a friend of Gabrielle
Giffords, was the chair (rescinded) for the 2016 Democratic National Convention and the chair for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Lily
Adams was a deputy communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Iowa communications
director for the 2016 Hillary Rodham
Clinton presidential campaign and is Cecile
Richards’s daughter.
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