The Washington Times reports that Hillary Clinton is now demanding that former President Donald Trump pay her legal fees for the Russian Collusion lawsuit that Trump brought against her.
Clinton made the demand in a court filing that she made on Monday.
Trump’s lawsuit
This all concerns the lawsuit that Trump filed back in March against Clinton, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and others.
In the lawsuit, Trump alleged that these entities conspired to spread the now-debunked narrative that Trump and his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia during that year’s presidential election.
Even though there is evidence that Clinton, the DNC, and others were instrumental in fabricating and spreading the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, Judge Donald Middlebrooks, in September, dismissed Trump’s lawsuit, accusing Trump of “seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him.”
Trump is now appealing the dismissal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Clinton’s latest filing
In the meantime, Clinton, just this week, filed papers with the lower court arguing that Trump ought to be forced to pay several fees – including her legal fees – for the lawsuit because, in Clinton’s view, it is frivolous and likely a “political stunt.”
“Plaintiff’s suit was unwarranted on the facts, unsupported by the law, and imposed substantial burdens both on Defendants and this Court,” Clinton argued in her court filing.
“Despite being alerted to the many deficiencies in the initial Complaint by one round of motions to dismiss,” she continued,” Plaintiff and his counsel pressed forward on an Amended Complaint that fixed none of the problems.”
Trump responds
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, has since released a statement responding to Clinton’s court filing, suggesting that Clinton’s filing is politically motivated.
The statement reads:
This motion, conveniently filed one week prior to election day, is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to score political points. 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.
The judge has yet to rule on Clinton’s motion. But, at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it granted.