Clinton demands Trump pay legal fees for racketeering lawsuit

Hillary Clinton wants former President Donald Trump to fork over more than $1 million to pay her legal fees after a judge threw out his racketeering lawsuit against her in September. 

Attorneys for the former Democratic presidential nominee filed a motion in a federal court on Monday asking the court to impose sanctions on Trump, calling the lawsuit that alleged Clinton and others engaged in a conspiracy to undermine his 2016 campaign with accusations of Russian collusion a “political stunt.”

“A reasonable attorney would never have filed this suit, let alone continued to prosecute it after multiple Defendants’ motions to dismiss highlighted its fundamental and incurable defects,” Clinton’s attorneys wrote, according to the Hill. 

The Clinton legal team is asking for $1.06 million from Trump to cover the legal expenses incurred by all the defendants named in his civil suit.

The former president filed the civil suit in March, accusing Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, British ex-spy Christopher Steele, and others of a conspiracy to undermine his 2016 presidential campaign with allegations of Russia collusion.  Trump claimed in filings that he had suffered over $24 million in losses as a result of the rumors about collisions between his presidential campaign and Russia.

US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1997, tossed the lawsuit out in September, citing “deficiencies in the plaintiff’s argument.” 

Trump’s legal team has appealed the dismissal of the lawsuit to the 11th circuit. 

Trump lawyer Alina Habba accused Clinton of having political reasons for filing the motion asking for sanctions. 

“This motion, conveniently filed one week prior to election day, is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to score political points,” Habba told the Hill. “This motion is particularly inappropriate, given that our client’s case will soon be reviewed by the Eleventh Circuit. We will oppose this motion and trust that the Court will see through this ruse.”