Glaring omission could derail Democrats’ lawsuit against Trump, Russia, lawyer says

Fred Jennings, a lawyer who specialises in cybercrime, has revealed that a glaring omission could derail the lawsuit filed by Democrats against President Donald Trump and Russia.

According to Jennings in an interview with Al Jazeera, a glaring omission in its legal text could turn out to be a loophole in the suit as he claims that “it sure looks like the DNC complaint failed” to include a necessary definition of a “computer”.

Jennings added that the lawsuit which alleges the conspirators violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a 1986 anti-cybercrime measure that criminalised accessing “protected computers” without authorisation.

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The CFAA is the US’ primary law against cybercrime and is often used to prosecute hackers for alleged “unauthorised access” of “protected computers”.

But the CFAA requires that lawyers clearly define “computers” and then “protected computers” – which have two separate definitions.

In order for a computer to be “protected”, it must first be defined as a “computer,” Jennings added.

The lawsuit alleges that top officials from Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with external forces to influence the the 2016 presidential election has been filed by the Democratic party.

Filed on Friday, the civil complaint accused Russia and WikiLeaks of conspiring to influence the Republican’s White House bid in favour of Trump.

The suit also claims that Moscow informed Trump’s campaign that it had conducted a cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), leading to the release of information damaging to the party’s presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.

 

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