Former President Donald Trump has filed a lengthy federal lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and other individuals when he claims deliberately undermined his 2016 presidential campaign.
The lawsuit - which is over 108 pages long - accuses Clinton and others of falsely tying Trump to Russia and orchestrating a "deep state" conspiracy against him, CNN reports.
"Acting in concert, the defendants maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty," claims the lawsuit, which was filed in Florida on Thursday (March 24).
"Under the guise of 'opposition research,' 'data analytics,' and other political stratagems, the Defendants nefariously sought to sway the public's trust. They worked together with a single, self-serving purpose: to vilify Donald J. Trump," it continues.
The accused include a long list of Trump's longtime political opponents. Former FBI Director James Comey, retired British spy Christopher Steele, and a handful of Clinton campaign advisers are among those who the former president alleges conspired against him.
As for their crimes, the lawsuit claims that Clinton and top Democrats fabricated evidence linking Trump to Russia, then spread that misinformation to the media in the hopes of hampering his chances of making it to the Oval Office in 2016. It goes on to assert that they were helped by top FBI "Clinton loyalists" who abused their power to defame Trump.
"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," reads the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is demanding over $24 million in costs and damages
Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta tweeted about the lawsuit, implying that the allegations made in it were a joke.
"Do you think Trump filed this case with the hope of calling Vladimir Putin as a character witness? Trump deposition ought to be a hoot," Podesta wrote.
Meanwhile, Aitan Goelman - who represents former FBI official Peter Strzok - told CNN that, knowing Trump, he highly doubted any of the claims the lawsuit made were founded in reality.
"We haven't had a chance to read the complaint, but knowing the former President, there's probably very little in there that's true," he said.
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