Trump Files Lawsuit Alleging Conspiracy Against Hillary Clinton, DNC

Facts

  • Former Pres. Trump has filed a civil lawsuit in Florida alleging a conspiracy to undermine his 2016 campaign and discredit him by falsely tying him to Russian state actors.1
  • The lawsuit, filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, names Hillary Clinton, the DNC, and dozens of other individuals as defendants.2
  • The lawsuit dismisses links between Trump and Russia as 'contrived' and repeats claims previously made about former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Trump and his campaign.3
  • Some of the contacts between members of Trump's campaign and Russian nationals were later confirmed by a bipartisan report compiled by the Senate Intelligence Committee.3
  • However, prosecutors concluded that there wasn't 'sufficient evidence' to charge anyone on the Trump campaign with conspiring with Russia.3
  • The lawsuit comes after, last month, Special Counsel John Durham filed a motion accusing the Clinton campaign of spying on Trump to establish 'an inference' and 'narrative' tying him to Russia.4

Sources: 1NPR Online News, 2Daily Caller, 3Business Insider and 4ITN.

Narratives

  • Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Federalist. Trump is finally going on the offensive to reveal the deep state conspiracy that corruptly tried to keep him out of office with the Russian collusion hoax.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Daily Kos. This is a little piece of media gamesmanship, red meat for Trump's base. But there's one problem: Discovery. Trump's poorly conceived lawsuit would open him up to damaging questions and require that he sit for depositions should the case move forward.
  • Cynical narrative, as provided by Law & Crime. This is not a serious piece of ligitation. Once the suit is dismissed--and it will be, in short order--Trump will use the dismissal to claim that the courts are protecting Clinton. Everything about this lawsuit is in bad faith.