Trump takes suit against Hillary Clinton over 2016 election to Supreme Court

President Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court on Friday to revive his dismissed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, accusing her of conspiring to rig the 2016 election by linking his campaign to Russia. A federal judge had thrown out the case and imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions on Trump and his lawyer for bringing a frivolous suit, a ruling upheld by an appeals court.

President Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court on Friday to revive his dismissed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, accusing her of conspiring with former FBI Director James Comey and others to rig the 2016 election by linking his campaign to Russia. The Republican president filed his appeal after a federal judge threw out the case and imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions against Trump and one of his lawyers, Alina Habba, for bringing a frivolous suit. The Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal and sanctions in 2025, stating that many of Trump's and Habba's legal arguments were indeed frivolous. Trump's lawyers wrote in the appeal that Supreme Court review is needed to protect the presidency, arguing that the lower courts' decisions reflect a troubling trend of using sanctions to punish the president for legitimate legal positions. The original lawsuit, filed in 2022 when Trump was out of office, alleged that Clinton conspired with allies to discredit him with a false narrative of collusion with Russia. US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks had dismissed the suit, likening it to a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining grievances, and later imposed sanctions for what he said was an intent to dishonestly advance a political narrative.