Sweigert v. Podesta
Sweigert v. Podesta
Opinion of the Court
GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS TO DISMISS; DENYING AS MOOT PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUBSTITUTED SERVICE ON DEFENDANT IMRAN AWAN; DENYING AS MOOT PLAINTIFF'S "REQUEST FOR ORAL ARGUMENT ON OPPOSITION TO PODESTA ET AL. DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS AMENDED COMPLAINT"; DENYING AS MOOT PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUBSTITUTED SERVICE ON DEFENDANT ANTHONY WEINER; AND DENYING AS MOOT PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT GLENN SIMPSON
I. INTRODUCTION
Pro se plaintiff George Webb Sweigert brings this putative class action against a host of individuals and entities purportedly associated with the Democratic National Party-including Haseeb Rana, the Democratic National Committee ("the DNC"),
For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants Defendants' motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(h)(3), this order applies to all Defendants, not just those who have responded, because no named Defendant bears a causal relation to Mr. Sweigert's alleged injury in fact. And the Court denies as moot four motions filed by Mr. Sweigert, one asking the Court to direct the United States Marshal to serve a Defendant who has now been served, a second requesting a hearing on one of the now-resolved motions to dismiss, a third requesting an order for substituted service on a Defendant, and a fourth seeking summary judgment on claims against one Defendant.
II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
In the 2016 Presidential election's Democratic primaries, Hillary Clinton won the party's nomination over Bernie Sanders and other candidates. Mr. Sweigert, an alleged supporter of Bernie Sanders, claims that he contributed $30 to Bernie Sanders's Presidential campaign,
First, Mr. Sweigert alleges that the DNC unlawfully favored Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries by signing a "Joint Funding Agreement," or "pay-to-play" scheme, without donors' knowledge, amounting to fraud. See id. ¶¶ 47, 60. According to Mr. Sweigert's complaint, "[t]he DNC is the formal governing body for the United States Democratic party." Id. ¶ 21. Its role is to "coordinat[e] strategy in support of Democratic Party candidates for local, state, and national" elections. Id. With respect to the Presidential election, "the DNC organizes the Democratic National Convention" in order to "nominate and confirm a candidate for President." Id. ¶ 22. At the time of the 2016 Democratic primaries, Deborah Wasserman Schultz, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, served as the DNC's chairperson. Id. ¶ 23. In its charters and bylaws, Mr. Sweigert alleges, the DNC obliged itself to "financial fidelity and impartiality." Id. ¶ 24.
Plaintiff claims that in August 2015, the DNC executed an agreement with Hillary for America, a not-for-profit affiliated with the Clinton campaign, wherein the DNC ceded "financial control and substantial management oversight[,] including selection and approval of personnel[,] to Hillary For America." Id. ¶ 27. Plaintiff alleges that the DNC never voluntarily disclosed *50this alleged agreement. Id. ¶ 47. Consequently, Plaintiff claims, donors continued to contribute without knowing that Hillary for America had "financial control and management right of refusal ... over the DNC." Id.
Aside from the alleged funding agreement, Plaintiff claims that some of the Defendants conspired to orchestrate and, in fact, orchestrated a number of hacking operations against the DNC. See generally id. ¶¶ 30, 43-65. In particular, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Glen Simpson (who is the CEO of Fusion GPS) and Imran Awan conspired to hire professional hackers to penetrate the DNC's computer network. Id. ¶¶ 30, 46. Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant Imran Awan "engineered a sophisticated email phishing attack against Bernie Sanders supporters" using a donation webpage that has a confusingly similar URL to that of the official donation site, and that Mr. Awan used the website to "rout[e] donations intended for Progressive candidates to bank accounts controlled by [ ] Wasserman Schultz and/or Imran Awan." Id. ¶¶ 44-45. Furthermore, according to Plaintiff, some of the Defendants hacked key congressional communications and constituent management systems, such as iConstituent and InterAmerica. Id. ¶ 56. Specifically, Mr. Sweigert alleges that Defendants Deborah Wasserman Schultz, Imran Awan, Abid Awan, Hina Alvi, Rao Abbas, Haseeb Rana, Jamal Awan, and Omar Awan were involved in the hacking and that they accessed private communications through DNC servers. Id. Plaintiff further alleges that using this private information, ARMZ Uranium Company, which Defendant Podesta Group created, sold nuclear fuel and weapons to foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia, to fund Hillary for America. Id. ¶¶ 46, 59. According to Mr. Sweigert, in the process, Defendant Podesta Group acted as a foreign agent of the Saudi Arabian government but never disclosed this fact to the public. Id. ¶ 46. And Mr. Sweigert's complaint alleges that during the period from February 2016 to October 2016, the Podesta Group illegally transferred this information from iConstituent to Defendant Anthony Weiner's laptops. Id. ¶ 60.
Plaintiff also claims that some Defendants were involved in an illicit scheme involving individuals or entities in Pakistan.
Based on these allegations, Mr. Sweigert filed suit in this Court claiming that Defendants committed fraud and breached fiduciary duties owed to Plaintiff and to members of the putative classes.
III. LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) allows a defendant to move to dismiss a complaint, or any portion thereof, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and the law presumes that "a cause lies outside this limited jurisdiction...." Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am. ,
When reviewing a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1), a court must review the complaint liberally, granting the plaintiff the benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged. Zaidan v. Trump ,
The D.C. Circuit has instructed that a motion to dismiss for lack of standing constitutes a motion under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure because "the defect of standing is a defect in subject matter jurisdiction." Crow Creek Sioux Tribe v. Brownlee ,
IV. ANALYSIS
Mr. Sweigert brings two claims against Defendants: one for fraud and the other for breach of fiduciary duty. Compl. ¶¶ 42-65. Defendants Haseeb Rana, the DNC, the Podesta Group, Deborah Wasserman Schultz, and Huma Abedin argue, among *52other things, that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because Mr. Sweigert lacks standing to pursue his claims. See Def. Rana's Mem. P & A Supp. Mot. Dismiss Pl.'s Compl. 3-6, ECF No. 20 ("Def. Rana's Mem."); Def. DNC's Mem. P & A Supp. Mot. Dismiss Pl.'s Compl. 6-19, ECF No. 21-1 ("Def. DNC's Mem."); Def. Podesta Group's Mem. P & A Supp. Mot. Dismiss Pl.'s Compl. 7-10, ECF No. 23 ("Def. Podesta Group's Mem."); Def. Abedin's Mem. P & A Supp. Mot. Dismiss Pl.'s Compl. 7, ECF No. 33 ("Def. Abedin's Mem.").
To establish subject matter jurisdiction, a plaintiff must have standing, as governed by Article III of the Constitution. See U.S. Const. art. III, § 2. Plaintiffs bear the burden of establishing subject matter jurisdiction. Vetcher v. Sessions ,
Defendants contend that Plaintiff lacks Article III standing to bring his claims.
A. Injury in Fact
Defendants argue that Plaintiff has not suffered a legally cognizable injury in fact that would support a finding of standing. See Def. Rana's Mem. 5; Def. DNC's Mem. 10-14; Def. Podesta Group's Mem. 7-9; Def. Abedin's Mem. 7. Plaintiff enumerates, *53both in his Complaint and in his responses to Defendants' motions to dismiss, a host of alleged injuries. See infra p. 53; see, e.g. , Resp. Opp. Def. Huma Abedin's Mot. Dismiss ¶ 4, ECF No. 37 (Resp. Abedin's Mot. Dismiss). This Court concludes that Plaintiff has alleged but one legally cognizable injury in fact: the $30 that he alleges he alleges that he donated to Bernie Sanders's Presidential campaign.
Courts have interpreted "injury in fact" to mean an "invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized ... and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical." Lujan ,
Mr. Sweigert has alleged numerous injuries, each of which he claims supports a finding of standing to litigate his two causes of action. See Compl. ¶¶ 42-50, 51-65. Specifically, Mr. Sweigert contends that:
1. Defendants defrauded Mr. Sweigert and all donors to Democratic candidates when:
(a) Defendant Imran Awan moved data from DNC servers to Hillary for America, Compl. ¶ 43, and engineered a phishing attack, which routed some, unspecified donations intended for Bernie Sanders and other progressive candidates to Defendants Imran Awan and Deborah Wasserman Schultz.9 Id. ¶¶ 44-45.
(b) Defendant the DNC covertly executed a secret "Joint Funding Agreement." Compl. ¶ 47.
(c) The Podesta Group and ARMZ Uranium Company brokered deals with at least thirteen foreign countries in 2015 to fund Hillary for America. Compl. ¶¶ 46-47.
2. Defendants breached a fiduciary duty to Mr. Sweigert and to all Democratic donors when:
(a) Defendants Deborah Wasserman Schultz, Imran Awan, Abid Awan, Hina Alvi, Rao Abbas, Haseeb Rana, Jamal Awan, and Omar Awan hacked *54"key Congressional communication systems such as iConstituent and InterAmerica" and otherwise accessed private communications through DNC servers and transferred other private records illicitly. Compl. ¶¶ 56, 60.
(b) Certain Defendants orchestrated a criminal spy ring out of the U.S. House of Representatives, creating an unauthorized email profile to covertly transact with individuals in at least twelve foreign countries to fund Hillary for America. Compl. ¶¶ 56, 58-59. Plaintiff contends that this spy ring violated the Rackteer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") Act. Compl. ¶ 58.
(c) Defendant Imran Awan illicitly sold iPhones and iPads intended only for congressional use to Pakistan, Compl. ¶ 61, and illicitly brought other electronic devices-including thumb drives, hard drives, and laptops with U.S. trade secrets - to Pakistan. Compl. ¶ 64.
(d) Defendant Imran Awan created fake employees in the U.S. House of Representatives database under the label "PeopleSoft," with which to fraudulently receive loans from the Congressional Federal Credit Union and send payments to unspecified individuals or entities Pakistan. Compl. ¶¶ 62-63.
Plaintiff has advanced in his complaint and in all other documents before the Court only one legally cognizable injury in fact: the $30 that he donated to the Bernie Sanders's 2016 Presidential Campaign. Compl. ¶ 2. Plaintiff's loss of $30 is indeed sufficiently concrete, particularized, and actual to satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement of standing. U.S. Const. art. III § 2, cl. 1 ; U.S.C.A. § 3730(b)(5)(c). Unlike in Lujan and Clapper , where the potential harm associated with danger to species abroad and with phone-tapping American citizens, respectively, was either prospective, conjectural, or generalized, the alleged $30 injury incurred to Mr. Sweigert occurred in the past and, upon the presentation of evidence, is potentially demonstrable. Lujan ,
However, all other harms that Plaintiff alleges-including grievances with the political process or with the internal workings of the DNC-fail to amount to legally cognizable injuries in fact because Mr. Sweigert has failed to articulate how any of these allegedly wrongful acts harmed him. Compl. ¶ 67; see Ndaba v. Obama ,
Moreover, Plaintiff does not allege any future, imminent injury in fact which would sustain a claim for damages, In re U.S. Office of Personnel Mgmt. Data Sec. Breach Litig. ,
B. Causation
Plaintiff claims that Defendants caused his injury in fact-that is, his loss of $30 in the form of an alleged donation to the Bernie Sanders campaign. See, e.g. , Compl. ¶ 69; Resp. Opp. Def. Abedin's Mot. Dismiss ¶ 4. However, this Court concurs with Defendants' contention that Plaintiff has failed to draw a plausible causal link between Defendants' actions and Plaintiff's only legally cognizable injury in fact. As some of the Defendants argue, Mr. Sweigert's "Complaint is devoid of allegations that Plaintiff donated-or took any other actions-in reliance on anything that Defendants said or did," and it fails to "isolate a single, identifiable act by any Defendant that breached the asserted duty owed to him or the asserted class members," even assuming there exists a fiduciary relationship. Def. DNC's Mem. 14-15. Accordingly, Plaintiff fails to demonstrate causation required to support standing.
To establish causation, a plaintiff must show that it is plausible that defendants proximately caused plaintiff's injury in fact. See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly ,
According to Plaintiff's complaint, he donated $30 to Bernie Sanders's individual presidential campaign-not to the DNC or to any other Defendant in this matter-through ActBlue, a fundraising non-profit. Compl. ¶ 2. ActBlue appears to operate independently of the DNC. See Compl. ¶¶ 2, 20.
However, because Mr. Sweigert made his alleged donation through ActBlue to the Bernie Sanders campaign, any loss that he may have suffered is not traceable to any Defendants. See Abulhawa v. U.S. Dep't of Treas. ,
C. Redressability
Finally, Plaintiff enumerates a number of forms of relief that he claims would address his purported injuries in fact. See Compl. ¶¶ 66-70. First, Mr. Sweigert seeks a judicially-mandated enjoinment of the aforementioned "spy ring activity in the U.S. House of Representatives." Id. ¶ 66. Second, Mr. Sweigert seeks declaratory and injunctive relief with regard to Defendant DNC's alleged violation of its own Charter and/or Bylaws. Id. ¶ 67. Third, Plaintiff requests compensatory damages in the amount of $300 million, and fourth, punitive damages in the amount of $600 million. Id. ¶ 69-70. This Court concludes that Plaintiff's one legally cognizable injury in fact-his alleged loss of a $30 donation to the Bernie Sanders campaign-is not redressable by the relief sought.
The third requirement for a plaintiff to demonstrate standing is redressability: a plaintiff's relief sought must actually remedy the plaintiff's injury. See, e.g. , Clapper ,
Mr. Sweigert first requests injunctions related to all of the activity involved in the alleged conspiracy; this remedy, however, does not redress the $30 that Plaintiff allegedly expended when donating to Bernie Sanders's campaign. Lyons ,
Finally, pursuant to Rule 12(h)(3), which provides that "if the court determines at *58any time that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, [it] must dismiss the action," this order disposes of Plaintiff's Complaint against all Defendants, not merely those that have responded to the Complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). As explained above, none of the Defendants that Plaintiff has named, including those served and those yet to be served, bear any causal connection to the $30 loss that Plaintiff allegedly incurred. See supra pp. 43-44. This enables, and indeed requires, the Court to dismiss the action in toto .
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motions to dismiss (ECF Nos. 20, 21, 23, 24, 33, 50) are GRANTED . Pursuant to Rule 12(h)(3), this order applies to all Defendants, not just those that have responded. In light of this resolution of Defendants' motions, the Court DENIES AS MOOT Plaintiff's "Request for Oral Argument on Opposition to Podesta et al Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint" (ECF No. 41), Plaintiff's "Motion for Partial Summary Judgment for Defendant Glenn Simpson" (ECF No. 47), and Plaintiff's "Motion for Substituted Service on Defendant Anthony Weiner" (ECF No. 42). The Court also DENIES AS MOOT Plaintiff's Motion for Substituted Service on Defendant Imran Awan (ECF No. 35) because, per the docket sheet in this case, Mr. Awan has now been served. See Return of Service/Affidavit, ECF No. 48. An order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion is separately and contemporaneously issued.
The complaint also names Thomas Perez and DNC Services Corp., doing business as the Democratic National Committee, as Defendants. The Complaint names Mr. Perez in his official capacity as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This memorandum opinion refers to Mr. Perez and the Democratic National Committee collectively as "the DNC" or "DNC."
No counsel has appeared on behalf of the other Defendants-Rao Abbas, Hina Alvi, Abid Awan, Jamal Awan, Natalia Sova, and Anthony Weiner-and it appears that these other Defendants have not yet been served with Plaintiff's complaint. See Sweigert v. Podesta , 17-cv-02330-RC,
At the motion to dismiss stage, the Court accepts the Plaintiff's factual allegations as true. See, e.g. , United States v. Philip Morris, Inc. ,
Mr. Sweigert alleges further that ActBlue charges a 3.95% processing fee for each contribution. Compl. ¶ 20 (internal quotation marks omitted). However, it is not entirely clear whether this processing fee was charged in addition to the alleged $30 contribution or taken from the alleged $30 contribution. For the purposes of this analysis, this Court refers to Mr. Sweigert's alleged injury as "the $30" contribution.
Plaintiff does not identify in his Complaint any specific individuals in Pakistan to whom Defendants Imran Awan and Hina Alvi allegedly transferred funds. Compl. ¶ 62; see generally Compl.
Mr. Sweigert proposes four classes: (1) all donors to the Democratic National Committee; (2) all donors to Bernie Sanders's 2016 Presidential campaign from January 1, 2015 to November 6, 2017; (3) all registered members of the Democratic Party; and (4) all citizens of the United States. Compl. ¶ 32, ECF No. 1.
Even though Mr. Sweigert brings a putative class action, he must nevertheless demonstrate that he individually has standing to litigate this case. O'Shea v. Littleton ,
Because the Court concludes that Mr. Sweigert lacks standing to bring this action, it need not address Defendants' other arguments for dismissal.
Mr. Sweigert does not allege that his own donation was rerouted. See Compl. ¶¶ 2 (contending that Mr. Sweigert contributed to the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders via ActBlue), 45 (asserting that Defendants engineered a phishing scheme, but omitting any allegation that Plaintiff's own donation might have been rerouted through Defendants' purported scheme).
As noted above, Plaintiff does not contend that any of the Defendants appropriated his $30 contribution. Rather, he notes only that he donated to Bernie Sanders's Presidential campaign through ActBlue. See Compl. ¶¶ 2, 45.
Mr. Sweigert argues that plaintiffs may seek civil remedies for criminal conspiracies under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") Act.
Even if Plaintiff did have standing, it appears that he has failed to adequately plead either of his claims-fraud and breach of fiduciary duty-pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8, 9, and 12(b)(6) against any of the Defendants. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8, 9, 12(b)(6) ; see Compl. ¶¶ 42-50. Fraud is associated with a heightened pleading requirement. Fed. R. Civ. P. 9, 12(b)(6) ; Stradford v. Zurich Ins. Co. , No. 02 Civ.3628,
Moreover, Plaintiff fails to adequately allege, much less show to be plausible, a claim for breach of fiduciary duty. Mr. Sweigert has not established the existence of a fiduciary relationship between himself and any of the named Defendants, has not shown that Defendants breached any such relationship, and has not demonstrated that such a breach proximately caused Plaintiff's injuries. See, e.g. , Armenian Genocide Museum & Memorial, Inc. v. Cafesjian Family Found., Inc. ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- George Webb SWEIGERT v. John PODESTA
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published