Trump says he wants US Supreme Court to revive suit against Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said he will ask the US Supreme Court to revive his failed lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others of conspiring to tarnish his 2016 campaign with bogus claims of collusion with Russia.

In a Supreme Court filing made public on July 28, the president requested an additional month, until Sept 9, to seek review of a November appeals court decision that upheld dismissal of the case and affirmed almost US$1 million (S$1.3 million) in sanctions against Trump and one of his lawyers.

The case is among several that Trump has waged since the end of his first term in office, including a series of multibillion-dollar defamation suits filed against the media in the last year since July 2025. Several of Trump’s lawsuits have hit snags recently. A judge earlier in July ruled that Trump’s US$10 billion suit against the Internal Revenue Service was an attempt to manipulate the court into blessing a controversial settlement.

In the Clinton case, the 3-0 ruling by 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals faulted Trump and lawyer Alina Habba for filing a “frivolous” lawsuit against his 2016 rival. Two of the judges on the panel were appointed by Republican presidents, including one by Trump.

“President Trump is committed to holding all those who commit wrongdoing, including trafficking in lies, deception, and fake news accountable for their reckless and politically motivated efforts to attack him and the MAGA movement,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said in a statement.

The suit, filed in March 2022, accuses the group of promoting false claims of improper ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia, including those outlined in the so-called Steele dossier. Trump claims the alleged conspiracy violated a federal racketeering law. The suit also named an array of political operatives, lawyers and others.

US District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, who dismissed the case, imposed the penalty in January 2023 after concluding Trump was “using the courts as a stage set for political theatre and grievance” by bringing the suit.

In his Supreme Court filing, Trump indicated his appeal would focus on the appeals court’s conclusion that he waited too long to sue. His lawyer, Richard C. Klugh Jr., told the high court that an extension until Sept 9 would “reduce any interruption of the work of the president in his singular role as chief executive”.

David Kendall, Clinton’s lawyer, declined to comment. BLOOMBERG