Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and others alleging they falsely accused him of colluding with Russia ahead of the 2016 election.
“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,” the complaint filed in a federal court in Florida said on Thursday.
“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,” it said. “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 [the] presidency by fabricating a scandal that would be used to trigger an unfounded federal investigation and ignite a media frenzy.”
“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 added.
The lawsuit claims that through the formation of a racketeering enterprise, the Democrats had a clear objective of defrauding Trump’s political career and that their allegations significantly affected the election. Trump defeated Clinton by a margin of 304 electoral votes to 227.
Besides Clinton, other named defendants include John Podesta, who served as chairman of Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and former FBI Director James Comey.
Also named as a defendant was Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who produced a dossier ahead of the election containing allegedly compromising information about Trump.
Asserting claims of racketeering conspiracy, injurious falsehood, computer fraud and malicious prosecution, the 45th president demands at least $24 million for lost business opportunities and to make up for the money he claims he spent on defending himself against the defendants’ accusations and the federal investigations and proceedings which arose as a result.
