Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Hillary Clinton is moving quickly to shut down an epic federal lawsuit that former President Donald Trump filed last month accusing her, her political allies and various government officials of a racketeering conspiracy to propagate false claims about Trump and Russia in connection with the 2016 presidential race.<\/p>\n
In a motion filed Wednesday<\/a> with a federal court in South Florida, Clinton\u2019s attorneys say the sprawling, 108-page complaint is entirely without legal merit and amounts to little more than a publicity stunt.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever the utility of Plaintiff\u2019s Complaint as a fundraising tool, a press release, or a list of political grievances, it has no merit as a lawsuit, and should be dismissed with prejudice,\u201d longtime Clinton attorney David Kendall wrote.<\/p>\n While some other defendants have sought to stall the suit as they assess how to respond, Clinton\u2019s lawyers wasted little time in asking U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks to dismiss the claims against her \u201cwith prejudice\u201d \u2014 meaning Trump would not be able to reformulate the suit and re-file.<\/p>\n As a technical matter, Clinton\u2019s motion applies only to her, so it can\u2019t shut down the entire case. However, other defendants \u2014 who include various Clinton campaign aides, former Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz<\/a>, former FBI Director James Comey and ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok \u2014 could join in Clinton\u2019s legal move to torpedo the suit.<\/p>\n At least some of those defendants are expected to be represented by the Justice Department or government-paid attorneys.<\/p>\n Clinton\u2019s filing spends little time parsing the far-fetched and often incomprehensible allegations Trump makes against her, such as theft of trade secrets and witness tampering.<\/p>\n \u201cClinton vigorously disputes the allegations in the Complaint,\u201d her attorneys write. \u201cBut even taking those allegations as true, Plaintiff fails to plead any cognizable legal causes of action.\u201d<\/p>\n The filing asserts some very basic flaws are fatal to Trump\u2019s suit, chief among them that the famously litigious former president and real estate mogul took too long to come to court. Clinton\u2019s lawyers say the statute of limitations for the claims in Trump\u2019s case ranges from two to four years, but the various assertions about Trump\u2019s ties to Russia were out in the open in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cNotwithstanding his rousing, all-caps call to action, Plaintiff waited four years, four months, and twenty-four days before filing suit,\u201d Kendall wrote. \u201cHis delay renders each of his claims untimely.\u201d<\/p>\n Clinton\u2019s attorneys also say Trump is trying to turn run-of-the-mill political opposition into a court case.<\/p>\n \u201cAt most, Plaintiff alleges that other entities sought to further Clinton\u2019s candidacy and, after the election, politically opposed Plaintiff\u2019s administration,\u201d Clinton\u2019s motion argues. \u201cThis is conduct plainly protected by the First Amendment, and there is nothing unlawful about engagement in political activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Trump asked Middlebrooks to recuse himself<\/a> from the suit because he was appointed by Clinton\u2019s husband, former President Bill Clinton. But the West Palm Beach-based judge promptly swatted down that request<\/a>, saying he\u2019d never met either Clinton.<\/p>\n Middlebrooks also said that having judges step off cases involving political allies of the president who appointed them could grind the federal courts to a halt.<\/p>\n