Trump Files Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton, Dozens of Others
Former president alleges a broad conspiracy to tarnish his image in run-up to 2016 campaign
Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, his 2016 Democratic opponent, and more than two dozen other defendants.PHOTO: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
By Talal Ansari Follow
March 24, 2022 6:34 pm ET
Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and more than two dozen other defendants, including the Democratic National Committee, alleging that they conspired before the 2016 election to tarnish the image of the then-Republican presidential candidate and his campaign.
“In the run-up to the 2016 Presidential Election, Hillary Clinton and her cohorts orchestrated an unthinkable plot—one that shocks the conscience and is an affront to this nation’s democracy,” says the 108-page lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants fabricated ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, to “trigger an unfounded federal investigation and ignite a media frenzy.”
In addition to Mrs. Clinton and the DNC, the lawsuit names 26 other defendants, including former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta, former FBI Director James Comey along with former FBI officials Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, and Andrew McCabe, and the research firm Fusion GPS, among others. It also lists 20 unnamed “fictious [sic] and unknown” defendants.
“Under the guise of ‘opposition research,’ ‘data analytics,’ and other political stratagems, the Defendants nefariously sought to sway the public’s trust,” the lawsuit states. “They worked together with a single, self-serving purpose: to vilify Donald J. Trump.”
Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton were named in Donald Trump’s lawsuit.PHOTO: CHRIS KEANE/REUTERS
In the lawsuit, Mr. Trump said he was “forced to incur expenses” in excess of $24 million, in addition to the loss of current and future business opportunities.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign found several links between that effort and the Trump campaign but no conspiracy between the two.
A number of Trump associates were convicted as the result of the Mueller probe, including one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort of financial crimes. Longtime political adviser Roger Stone was convicted of obstruction, witness tampering and lying to Congress. Both were later pardoned by Mr. Trump.
Special counsel John Durham, appointed during the Trump administration, has been investigating the origins of the FBI’s 2016 Russia probe.
Mr. Durham has been investigating, and in recent months indicted, people who provided some information to the FBI early on in the investigation, accusing them of lying about what they knew or who they were working for, including Michael Sussmann and Igor Danchenko. Both have pleaded not guilty and are fighting the charges. Both Messrs. Sussmann and Danchenko are named defendants in Mr. Trump’s suit.
Mrs. Clinton and other defendants couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Exc. |
