Donald Trump sues Hillary Clinton, DNC alleging false Russian collusion claims

March 24 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday filed a civil suit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others, alleging a conspiracy against him in 2016.

The suit alleges "the Defendants maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty."

Trump's suit names 28 individuals and organizations as defendants, alleging they worked together in a large interlocking conspiracy to cripple his presidential campaign by alleging collusion with Russia. The Trump suit said the alleged conspiracy was so "outrageous, subversive and incendiary that even the events of Watergate pale in comparison."

The federal civil suit filed in Florida accuses the defendants of "a malicious conspiracy to disseminate patently false and injurious information about Donald J. Trump and his campaign, all in the hopes of destroying his life, his political career and rigging the 2016 Presidential Election in favor of Hillary Clinton."

Trump's civil suit claims damages in excess of $24 million. It argues that the alleged conspiracy constituted a criminal conspiracy under the Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The suit claims that named defendants "have consistently and regularly committed acts of racketeering activity spanning from at least April 2015."

It further alleges "The RICO Defendants, through and using the Enterprise, engaged in, and continues to engage in, a coordinated effort to destroy the Plaintiff's political career and impede his ability to effectively govern as President of the United States."

After a two-year investigation, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller found that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election but said he was unable to conclude whether Trump's campaign colluded with the Russian government or whether Trump obstructed the investigation.

In 2019, former Attorney General William Barr tapped John Durham to investigate the origins of the two-year Russia probe. Durham's investigation has yielded three indictments but hasn't produced evidence of a widespread conspiracy against Trump, The Hill noted.