Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Thursday against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Convention (DNC) for spreading “malicious” accusations that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.
The 108-paged suit alleges that the Clinton campaign and the DNC coordinated with two senior partners at the Perkins Coie law firm — Marc Elias and Michael Sussman — to “weave a false narrative” that the former president colluded with a foreign nation in order to “vilify” their political opponent.
“Seeking to thwart Trump’s campaign and to diminish the likelihood of him winning the election, the Clinton Campaign and the DNC devised a nefarious scheme to discredit, delegitimize and defame him by proliferating a false narrative that Donald J. Trump and his campaign were actively colluding with Russia to interfere in the 2016 Presidential Election,” the lawsuit continues.
Trump is seeking $24 million in damages, along with legal fees and other expenses, the suit says. The suit consists of 28 defendants in total, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Trump believes they had been hired by the Clinton campaign and DNC to link the Trump campaign with Russia.
(MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)
The suit alleges that the defendants violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which establishes prohibitions and sanctions for those engaged in organized crime. (RELATED: ‘Fake Scandal’: Hillary Clinton Responds To Durham Report Spying Accusations)
The suit also alleges the Steele dossier is “riddled with misstatements, misrepresentations and, most of all, flat out lies.”
The allegations led to a two-year investigation led by former special counsel Robert Mueller, which found no evidence of collusion or that Trump engaged in any criminal conspiracy.