Donald Trump’s lawsuit against his former opponent Hillary Clinton has been dropped by a federal court judge.
The Daily Caller reported Trump had sued to recover $24 million in damages, alleging Clinton and others had “orchestrated a malicious conspiracy” to disseminate false information about him, in order to “destroy his life, his political career and rig the 2016 Election” in Clinton’s favor. Judge Donald Middlebrooks of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida tossed out the civil suit in an order on Sept. 8.
Trump accused Hillary of spreading falsehoods with malicious intent that resulted in false prosecution. He also claimed that the defendants were in violation of criminal statutes.
Much of the claims were centered around the infamous Steele Dossier written by British intelligence officer Christopher Steele who was hired by the Clinton campaign to investigate Trump.
Judge Middlebrooks who was appointed by Hillary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton said, “a two-hundred-page political manifesto of grievances,” when he dismissed the case.
He argued that the case had “glaring problems,” and was “not warranted under current law,” despite the fact that Clinton intentionally allowed the release of unverifiable information that has since been disproven.
Clinton used baseless claims to damage the reputation of her political opponent, and will now likely face no civil consequences.
The Judge continued, “What the Amended Complaint lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances.”
The Steele dossier and claims of Russian collusion haunted former President Donald Trump until the day he left office.
The effects of these claims still have an impact today, due to the fact that the initial claim is almost always more seen than the counterclaim.
It remains the case that even today many Americans still believe in some degree of collusion with Russia on Donald Trump’s part, despite the lack of evidence.
The claims have reappeared with the recent FBI raid of his Mar-a-Lago residence in West Palm Beach. Theories have circulated that Trump intended to trade secret information with the Kremlin – their only basis is the initial false claims.