I have filed a lawsuit against Manos Antonakakis

In the State of Georgia, there are exceptional Open Records laws. Citizens there seem to feel they deserve to know what is happening at their public agencies and with their tax dollars.

Government officials are typically required to use official government systems to ensure document retention for those purposes. It actually can be a crime not to retain documents.

A few weeks ago, I obtained evidence that Georgia Tech is paying the legal fees of Manos Antonakakis (and perhaps others), making clear that his work in Alfa Bank related allegations and the hack of the DNC constitute work in the performance of his responsibilities at the University. Thus, the related documents are subject to Open Records laws, wherever they are kept.

I submitted an Open Records request for emails in his private accounts that relate to these matters. We have now filed a lawsuit to compel the production of responsive records.

I want to make clear, Mr. Antonakakis has not been charged with any crime, and I am not alleging anything in regards to his conduct. I would even refer you to documents I have previously obtained which show Mr. Antonakakis (as Researcher-1) appears to feel unfairly maligned in the indictment of Michael Sussmann.

As I comment generally on the group of researchers and suspicions that I have, it is wrong to associate them with any particular individual. Mere association is not evidence of criminality or intent. We all have questions, and we all want answers.

This effort is to get transparency from a public official over decisions that were made and actions that were taken in his official responsibilities. It appears that Georgia Tech and the State of Georgia have paid approximately $100,000 in legal fees for Mr. Antonakakis. People want to know why he is incurring legal costs and why they are paying for those costs.

We are entering a new phase, and I am planning on additional lawsuits as needed. Some may be similar to this action, others may be a little different. If you’d like to help with the costs of these efforts, I have set up a dedicated bank account and fundraising portal here. I will post all the statements from the fund and bank account on a monthly basis to show all fees and where they are going.

Have a nice weekend.