U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said in a stern ruling Thursday that Trump’s lawsuit, filed in March, contained “manifest structural deficiencies” and that many of its “characterizations of the facts are implausible.” He rejected the idea that Trump was suing to correct an actual legal injury, saying that “instead, he is seeking to display a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those who have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate court. “ The lawsuit named as defendants Clinton and some of her top advisers, as well as former FBI Director James Comey and other FBI officials involved in the investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign coordinated with Russia to to influence the outcome of the election. Other defendants include the founders of a political research firm that hired a former British spy to investigate ties between Trump and Russia, and a well-connected Democratic lawyer who was recently acquitted of lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting. office information he wanted to investigate. But none of the allegations, the judge wrote, supported Trump’s claims of a conspiracy against him. “What the Amended Complaint lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to make up for in length, hyperbole and settlement of accounts and grievances,” Middlebrooks wrote. A 2019 Justice Department inspector general’s report found some flaws by the FBI during the Russia investigation, but found no evidence that bureau leaders were motivated by political bias in launching the probe and said the probe was launched for legitimate purpose. A separate investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller led to criminal charges against nearly three dozen individuals and entities and found widespread Russian interference in the election, but did not prove criminal collusion with the Trump campaign. Alina Haba, Trump’s lawyer, said Friday that Trump will appeal the firing.
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