Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Thursday naming Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of others claiming they unfairly tied his name to Russia during his 2016 presidential race.
According to CNN, Trump's lawsuit puts forth that a years-long "deep state" conspiracy was orchestrated against him by the parties named in which he was framed as a willing receiver of assistance from Putin and of the wider reaching help and support of Russia as a whole.
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"Under the guise of 'opposition research,' 'data analytics,' and other political stratagems, the Defendants nefariously sought to sway the public's trust," says the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida and reported on by CNN. "They worked together with a single, self-serving purpose: to vilify Donald J. Trump."
The details of the lawsuit are said to span over 100 pages, and the ask at the end is that $24 million in costs and damages be paid to Trump.
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"Acting in concert, the Defendants maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty," the lawsuit states. "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."
According to The Washington Post, Trump is claiming that he spent over $24 million defending himself against the allegations by Clinton and the others named. As CNBC and other outlets have pointed out, this lawsuit comes five years after Trump won the election the lawsuit is based around, and three years after Robert Mueller, a special counsel at the time, concluded that Trump was, in fact, "receptive" to assistance from Russia in 2016.
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