Eugene Yu, the Chinese-American founder of Konnech Inc., a controversial company that provided tech to help election authorities recruit and manage election judges, has filed suit against L.A. County District Attorney George Gascon and others for allegedly wrongly arresting him and ruining the reputation of his company at the instigation of supposed "right-wing election deniers."
The lawsuit was filed Sept. 13 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by defendants on Oct. 26.
"This lawsuit arises from one of the most shocking, outrageous and disgraceful violations in modern American history of a U.S. citizen’s most basic constitutional rights by powerful government officials in charge of law enforcement in one of our country’s leading cities," the lawsuit begins.
The defendants include L.A .County Deputy District Attorney Eric Neff and LA County District Attorney’s Office Senior Investigator Andrew Stevens.
"Defendants, using threats, intimidation and coercion, and with no cause, let alone probable cause, subjected Plaintiffs, an elections logistics firm and its founder, to a politically motivated arrest, an unlawful detention and search and seizure of property, and malicious prosecution - all based solely on frivolous conspiracy theories espoused by discredited, far-right extremist grifters, True the Vote, Inc.," the suit says.
The defendants "line their pockets by fundraising off of thoroughly debunked claims of election fraud, including unsupported claims that 3 million non-US citizens voted in the 2016 Presidential election and that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump," says the suit. "Despite knowing exactly with whom they were dealing, Defendants, in targeting Plaintiffs, maliciously and recklessly relied on and knowingly aligned themselves with the Election Deniers and their further discredited and utterly false conspiracy theories concerning supposed election malfeasance by Plaintiffs."
Gascón saw Yu’s arrest as a way to bolster his political support in a period of anti-China sentiment, said the suit.
After the arrest and seizure of his, Yu's company nearly 60 percent of its income, according to the lawsuit. Damages total $80 million, Yu claims in the suit.
Yu seeks unspecified monetary damages and attorney fees.
In announcing the arrest of Yu, Gascón said the charges were not related to election conduct or vote counting, but rather to allegations that Yu stole the identifying information of election judges.
Yu is represented in the lawsuit by Constantine Z. Pamphilis, J. Michael Wilson, Nathan W. Richardson and Daniel A. Saunders of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres LLP.
Konnech Inc. et al v. George Gascon et al. U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 2:23-cv-09064.