Lawsuit seeks damages over alleged hack into the DNC’s computer network.

The Democratic National Committee sued the Russian government, the Trump campaign and the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks on Friday, accusing them of a wide-ranging conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to defeat the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. The lawsuit alleges the defendants conspired before the election to hack into the DNC’s computer network and strategically leak the stolen information to bolster Donald Trump’s chances of winning the election. The conspiracy sought to undermine Mrs. Clinton’s campaign because Mr. Trump’s presidency was expected to benefit Russian political and financial interests, which would, in turn, benefit Mr. Trump’s financial interests, the lawsuit alleged. The DNC accused the Trump campaign of having “repeated secretive communications” with Russian agents and WikiLeaks. “We’re taking this action because we believe no one is above the law, and we must pursue every avenue of justice against those who engaged in this illegal activity against the DNC and our democracy,” the committee said in a statement.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez has been interested in a legal remedy to the hack since his election as chairman in February 2017, according to the DNC official, and the organization had been gathering facts and finding the right law firm to support a lawsuit. The DNC is represented by law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, which is also representing victims of the 2015 breach into health insurer Anthem Inc.

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