Via Disobedient Media
In June of last year, attorneys Jared Beck and Elizabeth Beck of law firm Beck and Lee filed a class action law suit against the DNC and former chairwomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The suit claims that the DNC acted against its charter when it showed demonstrable favoritism towards Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, and failed to secure the data of DNC donors. The suit could have massive significance for the Democratic Party and could have an even wider impact if the origin of the DNC leaks are disclosed in the proceedings.
Attorney Elizabeth Beck described the lawsuit to US Uncut:“We think that the DNC has been running absolutely out of control and completely disregarding their responsibilities, rights, and duties to the public.”
The DNC lawsuit has so far received very little press coverage, despite revealing blatant corruption in the Democratic establishment. The death of Shawn Lucas, a process server who would have been a federal witness for the Becks, added further fuel to speculations of corruption surrounding the case. Jared Beck has also stated that Seth Rich would have been a potential witness in their case.
The lawsuit has so far revealed an absolutely unabashed level of corruption in the Democratic Party establishment. Attorney Bruce Spiva stunningly argued in defense of the DNC during the latest April 25th hearing on the case: "There's no right to not have your candidate disadvantaged or have another candidate advantaged. There's no contractual obligation here,” Spiva further stated that the party had the right to select its candidate in any way it chooses and was "not bound by pledges of fairness."
Spiva's defense has proved controversial, as it effectively admits the DNC primary process was rigged, but argues that this was not illegal. Jared Beck told US Uncut that he believed their suit would prove successful based on Article 5, Section 4 of the DNC charter which explicitly requires the chair of the DNC to remain impartial during the primary.
The New York Times reported that the DNC leaks that formed the impetus for the DNC lawsuit had suggested the DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, and other officials "favored Hillary Clinton over Mr. Sanders." The DNC leaks have also raised serious questions regarding DNC funding methods.
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a defendant in the DNC lawsuit. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Disobedient Media spoke with Jared Beck, who said that the initial momentum for the case stemmed from the rigging of the primary, but added: "There's another aspect to this case that deals with why information leaked into the public domain, and that's also part of this very intense mystery... that a lot of us are very concerned about right now."
Beck told Disobedient Media that in addition to the claims based on donations made to the Bernie Sanders campaign, and to the DNC, he also believed that there is a claim based on the DNC's negligent failure to secure the data of its donors. This may be an important claim in terms of establishing why that data was released into the public (due to DNC negligence, in Beck's view). Beck stated that he thought his team might be able to get discovery on this issue and specifically how it came to be that the data was released. Beck said that he believed the topic to currently be a very important issue right now given public interest about who leaked the DNC documents.
Beck also discussed how the DNC lawsuit's claims regarding DNC negligence with donor data may be especially important as it relates to the unsolved murder of Seth Rich. Rich was a staffer for the DNC who died in an unsolved murder last July. In August last year Fox News reported that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had strongly hinted that Seth Rich was the source for the DNC leaks. The Washington Post also reported that Wikileaks had offered a reward for information leading to a conviction in Seth Rich's murder. Jared Beck has stated via twitter that Seth Rich would have been a potential witness in the DNC lawsuit.
If the Becks successfully gain the right to discovery on the origin of the DNC documents, the mystery regarding whether Seth Rich leaked the information might potentially be resolved. If Rich did indeed leak the DNC emails to Wikileaks, the 'Russian hacking' narrative would be utterly negated.
The Becks based their lawsuit on Guccifer2.0's release of the information, which occurred in June last year, before Wikileaks had announced they would be releasing DNC documents. Guccifer2.0's role in the DNC leaks was discussed in a previous report by Disobedient Media. There has been speculation that Guccifer2.0's early release of the information was intended to smear Wikileaks and potentially Seth Rich as the leaker, by intentionally fabricating evidence of 'Russian hacking' in the earliest available version of the data.
Adding further questions surrounding the lawsuit was the unexpected death of Shawn Lucas, who was filmed serving defendants in the suit last July. Police reports describe how Luca's girlfriend found him unconcious on the bathroom floor in early August. Paramedics were unable to revive him. The Becks have indicated Shawn Lucas was to be a Federal witness in the proceedings.
Jared Beck told Disobedient Media that Lucas would have served as a witness in order to rebut the defendant's contention that process was incorrectly served. This would have included a sworn declaration from Lucas; Beck stated that footage of Lucas serving process had been introduced as evidence in the case in his stead, due to the unexpected death.
The Becks have provided Disobedient Media with copies of their communications with Washington D.C. police that include discussion regarding the body cameras worn by police as well as Shawn Lucas' death report. Lucas' cause of death was described by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of Washington D.C as "Combined adverse effects of fentanyl, cyclobenzaprine, and mitragynine," with the manner of death listed as "accident." Fentanyl is a strong opioid pain medication, sometimes used as part of anaesthesia. Cyclobenzaprine is a muscle relaxant, while mitradynine is a substance found in Kratom.
As the case continues to be a developing story, Disobedient Media will provide further coverage of the DNC lawsuit should new facts emerge.