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[Telgin]

I'm not expecting it to be worth much in the end, except to serve as fuel for Trump's witch hunt fire.  It will be nice if it gets someone in trouble for lying under oath though, so that's a small possible silver lining.

[Dunamisdeos]

Wasn't there an official investigation that concluded that you would have to be some kind of, how did they put it, Tom Clancy-esque conspiracy theorist to look at all the evidence and conclude that Trump colluded with Russia?

I mean go after WikiLeaks and Russia for sure, that evidence is right there. They're hurting their own cred with going after Trump specifically.
 Also, apparently there's concern that this could interfere with Mueller's investigation? Are they unconcerned about that? Got tired of waiting? I also am unsure what they hope to actually gain here.

[Telgin]

The impression I got was that they're targeting his campaign overall more than him specifically, and to me it seems much more plausible that some campaign members were conspiring with Russia or other foreign agents than just Trump himself.

I'm still doubtful it'll go anywhere.

[Lord Shonus]

Wasn't there an official investigation that concluded that you would have to be some kind of, how did they put it, Tom Clancy-esque conspiracy theorist to look at all the evidence and conclude that Trump colluded with Russia?

No. The only official investigation is still ongoing. There have been several obviously partisan "There was no interference whatsoever. Stop crying because you lost." type "investigations", but nothing like what you are describing.

[Frumple]

The impression I got was that they're targeting his campaign overall more than him specifically, and to me it seems much more plausible that some campaign members were conspiring with Russia or other foreign agents than just Trump himself.

I'm still doubtful it'll go anywhere.

They're literally not filing against trump himself, yes. Like, explicitly. He's not specifically part of the lawsuit, at the moment.

[Dunamisdeos]

Oh good, well that's better.

I also would be less than surprised if it came up that members of his staff colluded directly. But I mean, there's no additional investigation here, right?

[Frumple]

... I'm not sure what question you're trying to ask with that one, honestly.

[Dunamisdeos]

There's already an investigation. Filing a lawsuit changes nothing, it's not like they are going to uncover anything that the current investigation will not. They can literally just sit there in court and say that they colluded not at all (truthfully or no), and if they don't get nailed by the present investigation then the DNC will look like they are on a witch hunt.

The only thing I can think of is if they actually have uncovered new evidence regarding certain campaign members and want to bring it up in court.

[Trekkin]

They may have more of a case than we know; it's possible that as part of their efforts against Grizzly Steppe, Crowdstrike set up something in the DNC or DCCC servers that, having presumably shown up in the Guccifer 2.0 leaks, would more definitively establish a timeline and flow of information. They had weeks to do so.

EDIT: Or maybe the AIVD told them things directly?

[Dunamisdeos]

Only thing I can figure where they don't come out with a net loss of face is if they know something and are planning on calling on specific members.

[Frumple]

There's already an investigation. Filing a lawsuit changes nothing, it's not like they are going to uncover anything that the current investigation will not. They can literally just sit there in court and say that they colluded not at all (truthfully or no), and if they don't get nailed by the present investigation then the DNC will look like they are on a witch hunt.

The only thing I can think of is if they actually have uncovered new evidence regarding certain campaign members and want to bring it up in court.

Filing a lawsuit does, in fact, change things, considering the special investigation hasn't filed the charges in question, though? And beyond that, that investigation isn't on behalf of the DNC nor even remotely obligated to seek damages for the organization in question. If they don't get nailed by the present investigation it's still entirely possible there's legal grounds for what the DNC is after. There's almost certainly overlap, but the DNC filing and whatever meuller's doing are going to be looking for somewhat different things as well as interpreting what's found through different lenses.

Though again, the folks charged can spew word vomit about collusion until the sun goes out and it'd mean jack all. They're not going to be considering charges of collusion because charges of collusion don't friggin' exist.

... beyond all that, it's possible they're filing the charges as what amounts to contingency, from what I've been noticing. Turtlebitch just recently nixed explicit protection for meuller's investigation and we're all aware of how stable trump isn't at this point. It's possible actors in the DNC are pulling this card out of worry the staggeringly corrupt fucks running this administration finally lose their already loosely held marbles and deep six the special investigation.

[Dunamisdeos]

That would be quite the extreme situation. He'd come across as an outright tyrant instead of a tin-pot blowhard with an aversion to other people's rights like he is now.

[PTTG??]

God damn I wish there was a functional progressive party in American politics.

Go agitate against first-past-the-post voting, then. So long as the system tends toward a two-party equilibrium, the drive to centrism is too strong for progressivism to be tenable.

That's not what's happening, though. This move doesn't support centrism at all. It's only going to radicalize conservatives and make moderates think the Democrats are partisan. My problem with the action isn't that it's not progressive, it's that it's incompetent. Unless they have access to some truly abysmal news I don't -- something that suggests that the Mueller investigation is going to get shut down, for instance -- then it's falling into the same trap of not focusing on the issues.

Republicans are incredibly weak on issues. They aren't fiscally conservative; they aren't socially responsible; they aren't moral or ethical; and they oppose gay marriage, pot, single-payer healthcare, national parks, and diplomacy, which are some of the most popular concepts across the population. How the hell are the democrats not having a field day with this?

[Trekkin]

How the hell are the democrats not having a field day with this?

Because different segments of their base want very different kinds of field day, and somehow the vector sum of the forces acting upon them has accelerated them this way. EDIT: It even looks kind of like a workable compromise between marching in the streets for impeachment and doing nothing, if you don't look too hard at it.

Remember, politicians are point masses: they are small, dense, and do nothing without being forced.

[EnigmaticHat]

The impression I got was that they're targeting his campaign overall more than him specifically, and to me it seems much more plausible that some campaign members were conspiring with Russia or other foreign agents than just Trump himself.

I'm still doubtful it'll go anywhere.

At least... 4?  I haven't been counting, but I know at least 4, Trump associates have either been found guilty of, or signed a confession to, some kind of crime by Mueller.  Mueller has also been continuously seeking more and more info from Trump, for example looking into various aspects of his finances.  Mueller has already indicated that if he finds something outside his scope he will tip off another agency (for example the tip he gave on Michael Cohen, Trump's laywer that resulted in all of his files being seized in a morning raid by FBI); so the fact that he's gathering info on Trump means that he thinks that info is within the scope of his investigation.  Which is about, among other things, collusion.

This is ignoring all of the huge red flags have not yet resulted in overt legal action.  Donald Trump Jr's ridiculous emails where he said he was "enthusiastic" about colluding with Russia.  Trump during the election openly stating on live TV that if the Russians had "the emails", they should release them.  Trump claiming he doesn't know who Papadapolous (one of the middlemen between Russia and the Trump campaign, who got caught with pretty damning evidence and agreed to cooperate) despite him being a high up position in the campaign.  Then a picture comes out with, oops, Papadapolous in the same meeting with Trump.  Also that meeting between Donald Trump Jr and a Russian lawyer that's basically a legal kiss of death thanks to his emails?  That he claimed only he was there for?  The majority of Trump's higher ups in his campaign were there and "forgot" to mention it.  Also, there's that campaign staffer that got subpeoned for emails by Mueller and had a 6 hour long mental breakdown on live TV.  When he was asked by a (I think, CNN) anchor if he "thinks Trump actually did anything", his response was "...all I'm going to say is, I think Trump mayyyy have done something really bad.  And I think Mueller might get him for it."  Obviously not legally significant but, you know.  Doesn't look good from the outside.