Trump petitions Supreme Court to overturn dismissed election-rigging lawsuit
Donald Trump has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to revive his dismissed lawsuit that accused Hillary Clinton, James Comey and others of conspiring to rig the 2016 election, after lower courts imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions.
Donald Trump submitted a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting that it reverse a lower-court ruling that threw out his 2022 lawsuit alleging a conspiracy by Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Christopher Steele and the Democratic National Committee to sabotage his 2016 campaign. The suit, filed in federal court in Florida, claimed racketeering and a coordinated effort to spread false allegations of collusion with Russia.
U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed the case, describing it as a two-hundred-page political manifesto and ordering Trump and his attorney Alina Habba to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions for filing a frivolous claim. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal and penalties in 2025. Trump, who lost the 2020 election and regained the presidency in 2024, continues to assert that the Russia investigation was a hoax, despite the Mueller report confirming extensive contacts between his campaign and Russian operatives.
Separate investigations by special counsels Robert Mueller and John Durham have examined the 2016 interference and FBI conduct, respectively. The Supreme Court’s decision on the petition could determine whether Trump’s broad allegations can be heard in federal court.
Why it matters
The case tests limits on political lawsuits and could affect how election-related claims are litigated.
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