President Donald J. Trump is suing Hillary Clinton and the DNC over the Russia collusion “false narrative.”
QUICK FACTS:
- President Donald J. Trump has sued former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as well as the Democratic National Committee (DNC), alleging they conspired to create a “false narrative” to tie his 2016 campaign to Russia.
- According to Reuters, Trump is also taking action against several other Democrats who accused Trump of colluding with Russia.
- In addition to Clinton and the DNC, the suit names Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer whose dossier was used to place blame on Trump in the Russia collusion investigation.
- The suit alleges that the defendants engaged in “racketeering” and a “conspiracy to commit injurious falsehood,” among other claims.
- Trump is seeking $72 million in damages, alleging that Clinton and others “orchestrated” a false plot to make it appear as though he colluded with “a hostile foreign sovereignty,” The Washington Examiner notes.
- The defendants’ actions were an attempt to “vilify him,” according to the Thursday court filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
- “They worked together with a single, self-serving purpose: to vilify Donald J. Trump. Indeed, their far-reaching conspiracy was designed to cripple Trump’s bid for presidency by fabricating a scandal that would be used to trigger an unfounded federal investigation and ignite a media frenzy,” the complaint states.
LAWSUIT DETAILS:
- “Acting in concert, the Defendants maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty,” President Trump alleges in the 108-page lawsuit.
- “The actions taken in furtherance of their scheme — falsifying evidence, deceiving law enforcement and exploiting access to highly-sensitive data sources — are so outrageous, subversive and incendiary that even the events of Watergate pale in comparison,” the complaint goes on to say.
- Trump’s suit requests both compensatory and punitive damages, Trump’s attorneys claiming the former president was “forced to incur expenses in an amount to be determined at trial, but known to be in excess of twenty-four million dollars ($24,000,000) and continuing to accrue, in the form of defense costs, legal fees, and related expenses.”
BACKGROUND:
- Allegations of collusion with Russia were based largely on the 966-page Steele Dossier that claimed Republican operative Paul Manafort and other sympathetic individuals helped Trump win the election through criminal conspiracy.
- An extensive report was created after a long investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller which attempted to create the case for the collision, however, no Trump associates were charged with criminal conspiracy according to Reuters.
- Special Prosecutor John Durham has secured a conviction against Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer who was sentenced to one-year probation for altering an email during the Russia investigation that was used to justify the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
