Democratic National Committee v. The Russian Federation et al

Filing 64

MOTION for Leave to Serve Three Foreign Defendants Through the Secretary of State under 28 U.S.C. 1608(a)(4) . Document filed by Democratic National Committee. (Attachments: #1 Complaint - English, #2 Complaint - Russian, #3 ECF Instructions - Eng., #4 ECF Instructions - Russian, #5 FSIA English, #6 FSIA Russian, #7 GRU Summons English, #8 GRU Summons Russian, #9 Guccifer Summons English, #10 Guccifer Summons Russian, #11 Koetl Practices English, #12 Koetl Practices - Russian, #13 Notice of Suit Russian, #14 Notice of Suit, #15 Russian Fed. Summons English, #16 Russian Fed. Summons Russian, #17 Translation Certificate, #18 Text of Proposed Order Proposed Order)(Sellers, Joseph)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE,
Plaintiff,
v.
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION et al.,
Defendants.

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) Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-03501-JGK
)
) NOTICE OF SUIT
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)
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)

NOTICE OF SUIT
Pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1608(a), and Federal
Regulation 22 CFR § 93.2, Plaintiff hereby provides Defendants with this Notice of Suit.
1. This case is called Democratic National Committee v. The Russian Federation, et al.,
Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-03501-JGK (S.D.N.Y. filed April 20, 2018). It was filed in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
2. The foreign state concerned is the Russian Federation. The political subdivisions
concerned are the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (“GRU”),
and the GRU operative, desk, or division which operates the online persona “Guccifer
2.0.”
3. The Plaintiff is the Democratic National Committee. In addition to the three Defendants
listed in paragraph 2, the other Defendants are Aras Iskenerovich Agalarov; Emin Araz
Agalarov; Joseph Mifsud; Wikileaks; Julian Assange; Donald J. Trump For President,
Inc.; Donald J. Trump, Jr.; Paul J. Manafort, Jr.; Roger J. Stone, Jr.; Jared C. Kushner;
George Papadopoulos; and Richard W. Gates, III.
4. The documents being served are the Summons and Complaint.
5. This is a civil proceeding in the United States federal courts. Plaintiff alleges that the
foreign state and political subdivisions named as Defendants in this case hacked into their
computer systems and networks, stole trade secrets and other documents and information,
and caused the documents to be used and disseminated. Plaintiffs also alleges that the
Defendants participated in a conspiracy to do the same.
Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants violated:

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The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030(A));

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The Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations Act (“RICO”) (18 U.S.C.
§ 1962);

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The Wiretap Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-22); the Stored Communications Act (18
U.S.C. §§ 2701-12);

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The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq.);

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Misappropriation of Trade Secrets Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C.
§ 1836 et seq.);

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The Washington D.C. Uniform Trade Secrets Act (D.C. Code Ann. §§ 36-401 –
46-410);

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D.C. Common Law Trespass;

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Virginia Common Law Trespass to Chattels;

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Virginia Common Law Conspiracy to Commit Trespass to Chattels; and

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The Virginia Computer Crimes Act (Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-152.5 et seq.).

Plaintiff seeks the following relief:
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Damages in an amount to be determined, including but not limited to all damages
and losses suffered by Plaintiff as a result of the illegal hacking, theft, and
subsequent release of Plaintiff’s confidential documents and/or Plaintiff’s
response to and remediation related thereto;

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Compensatory and treble damages, as available, in an amount to be proven at trial;

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The financial gain earned by Defendants as a consequence of the violations;

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Statutory damages, as available;

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Punitive damages, as available;

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A declaration that Defendants, according to proof, conspired to and did engage in
a common scheme to effect the illegal and unauthorized hacking of Plaintiff’s
computer systems and/or personal emails and the exfiltration of confidential
information; disseminated that stolen information to the public; and used that
disclosed stolen information to impact the 2016 election for their own gain;

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Injunctive relief restraining Defendants from accessing Plaintiff’s computer
networks and/or personal emails without Plaintiff’s authorizations; engaging in
any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the
performance of, or impairs the functionality of Plaintiff’s computer networks or
personal emails; selling, publishing, distributing, or using any property or
information obtained from Plaintiff’s computer networks or personal emails
without Plaintiff’s authorization; and removing, extracting, or copying any
information or data from Plaintiff’s computers or personal emails without
Plaintiff’s authorization;
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Attorneys’ fees and costs;

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Pre- and post-judgment interest; and

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Any other relief that the Court may deem just and proper.

Respectfully submitted,
Dated: May 18, 2018

/s/ Joseph M. Sellers
Joseph M. Sellers (admitted Pro Hac Vice)
Geoffrey A. Graber (admitted Pro Hac Vice)
Julia A. Horwitz (Pro Hac Vice forthcoming)
Alison S. Deich (Pro Hac Vice forthcoming)
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
1100 New York Ave. NW ● Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
[phone]
Michael Eisenkraft
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
88 Pine St. # 14
New York, NY 10005
[phone]

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Attorneys for Plaintiff

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