Donald Trump Asks the Supreme Court to Revive His Dismissed 2016 Election Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton and Others

On Friday, October 9, 2026, President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey and others of conspiring to damage his 2016 campaign by linking it to Russia. The case was dismissed by a federal judge in Florida in 2022, and the Eleventh Circuit upheld that dismissal and the sanctions in November 2025.

Filing a petition does not mean the justices will hear the case. Four of the nine must vote to take it. The lawsuit contained allegations only. No court has found that Clinton or any other defendant did what Trump accused them of doing.

Quick Facts: Trump v. Clinton Supreme Court Petition

Detail	Information
Case	Donald J. Trump v. Hillary Rodham Clinton, et al.
Original filing	March 24, 2022, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (No. 2:22-cv-14102)
District judge	Donald M. Middlebrooks
Defendants named	Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, James Comey, Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS, Perkins Coie and others
Claims	Civil RICO, conspiracy to commit injurious falsehood and other claims
District court result	Amended complaint dismissed September 2022
Sanctions	$937,989.39 against Trump and attorney Alina Habba, jointly and severally (January 2023); other sanctions orders also entered
Appeals court	U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 22-13410, decided November 26, 2025
Appeals result	Dismissal and sanctions affirmed, with one narrow change for one defendant
Supreme Court	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed October 9, 2026
Needed for review	Votes from at least four justices
Status	Pending; no ruling on whether the Court will hear the case

What Is Trump Asking the Supreme Court to Do in His Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton?

Trump wants the Court to reverse the lower courts and let his lawsuit go forward again. According to Reuters and other outlets covering the filing, his lawyers argue that the lower courts wrongly punished them for pursuing legitimate legal claims. Reports also say they argue that the time Trump spent as president should change how the filing deadline is applied, and that the case matters for protecting the presidency.

The petition also takes on the sanctions. Trump’s lawyers say federal judges are using them against the president and his counsel for legal positions the courts reject.

Reports on the evening of the filing noted that the case appeared on the Supreme Court’s online docket without the petition itself listed yet. The Court’s docket should be checked for the petition’s number and any order. An earlier application, No. 26A134, recorded the extensions Trump received to file.

What Did Trump Accuse Hillary Clinton and the Other Defendants of Doing?

Trump filed the suit on March 24, 2022, after his first term ended. He alleged that Clinton, her campaign and allies spread a “false narrative” that he and his campaign colluded with Russia. The complaint described an enterprise of political operatives, law firms, research firms and former officials, and named these among the defendants:

• Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee
• The Democratic National Committee
• James Comey, former FBI director
• Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer behind the Steele dossier
• Fusion GPS, the research firm
• Perkins Coie, the law firm that represented the DNC and the Clinton campaign

These are Trump’s allegations. The defendants disputed them, and the court dismissed the case before any trial or discovery.

Why Did Judge Donald Middlebrooks Dismiss Trump’s Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton?

Judge Middlebrooks dismissed the amended complaint in September 2022. Reuters reported that he cited numerous inadequacies, including that Trump waited too long to bring some of the claims. He likened the filing to a “two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him.” Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a motion to dismiss tests whether a complaint states a claim (Rule 12(b)(6)) or whether the court has jurisdiction (Rule 12(b)(1)). Those are legal questions, not findings after a trial.

Dismissal “with prejudice” generally means the same claims cannot be refiled. The judge dismissed the claims against the private defendants that way, while the claims against the United States were dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Why Was Trump Ordered to Pay Nearly $1 Million in Sanctions?

Several defendants asked for sanctions. In January 2023, Judge Middlebrooks ordered Trump and his lead attorney, Alina Habba, to pay $937,989.39, jointly and severally. That means the full amount can be collected from either of them, and they can sort out contribution between themselves. A separate order covered the Ticktin Law Group, and an earlier order in November 2022 granted a motion by Charles Dolan.

In his ruling the judge wrote that the case “should never have been brought” and that its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. He also wrote that no reasonable lawyer would have filed it. These were his findings about the litigation, not a finding that every allegation was false.

Courts can sanction filings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, which requires a factual and legal basis and a proper purpose and allows fee-shifting after notice and a chance to withdraw the filing. They also have inherent power to punish bad-faith litigation (Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32 (1991)), and 28 U.S.C. § 1927 lets courts make lawyers pay costs caused by vexatious litigation. Sanctions are not damages for the other side winning on the merits.

What Did the Eleventh Circuit Decide in Trump v. Clinton in November 2025?

On November 26, 2025, a three-judge Eleventh Circuit panel issued a published opinion. The panel included Judge Andrew Brasher, a Trump appointee, and described many of Trump’s arguments as frivolous, according to reporting. The court:

• Affirmed the dismissal of the remaining claims, finding them untimely and otherwise lacking merit.
• Affirmed the sanctions orders.
• Held that the district court lacked jurisdiction over one defendant, Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., and directed that claims against it be dismissed without prejudice instead of with prejudice.
• Rejected the argument that the Durham report required a different result. It did not fix the legal flaws in the complaint.
• Declined to add sanctions for the appeal itself, finding the appeal of the dismissal was not frivolous.

The panel noted that Trump did not appeal the dismissal of several claims, including malicious prosecution, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trade secrets and the Stored Communications Act.

What Federal Laws Are at the Center of Trump’s Lawsuit Against Clinton?

The RICO statute, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961 to 1968

RICO lets a private plaintiff sue for treble damages and attorney’s fees under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c) if a pattern of racketeering activity injures their business or property. A claim must plead an enterprise, a pattern of at least two predicate acts and an injury, and the conduct must violate § 1962. It is not a catch-all for political disputes or false statements.

Civil RICO has a four-year statute of limitations (Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc., 483 U.S. 143 (1987)). In most federal courts it starts when the plaintiff discovers, or should have discovered, the injury (Rotella v. Wood, 528 U.S. 549 (2000)). Trump’s 2022 filing concerned events in 2016 and 2017, so timeliness was a central question.

Whether a president’s duties can pause the deadline

The petition reportedly argues that serving as president should toll, or pause, the clock. The Supreme Court held in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997), that a sitting president has no temporary immunity from private civil suits over unofficial acts. Lower courts also treat equitable tolling as a narrow exception reserved for extraordinary circumstances. Whether presidential duties qualify is the question Trump wants the Court to take up.

How the Supreme Court chooses cases

Review comes through a petition for a writ of certiorari under 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1). Under Supreme Court Rule 10, the Court looks for things like conflicts among the circuits or important federal questions, and it takes only a small fraction of petitions. Four justices must vote to grant review (the “rule of four”). A denial does not endorse the lower court’s reasoning.

What Did the Mueller and Durham Reports Say About the Russia Investigation?

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report found that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in a sweeping and systematic way. It also stated that the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government. That is not the same as a finding that every allegation was fabricated.

John Durham, appointed in 2019, issued a report in 2023 criticizing parts of the FBI’s handling of its investigation, including its reliance on sources tied to Trump’s opponents. Trump’s lawyers relied on it to ask for reconsideration, and the Eleventh Circuit concluded it did not cure the complaint’s legal flaws. Criticism of the FBI does not by itself prove the elements of RICO or injurious falsehood against Clinton and the other defendants.

What Happens Next After Trump’s Petition to the Supreme Court?

1. Response. Clinton and the other respondents can file a brief in opposition, generally within 30 days of docketing under Supreme Court Rule 15, or waive the right to respond. The Court can also request a response.
2. Conference. The petition is distributed to the justices for a private conference. This usually takes weeks to months.
3. A decision on whether to hear the case. The Court can deny, grant or summarily act.

Possible outcomes:

• Denied. The Eleventh Circuit ruling stands, and the sanctions remain in force.
• Granted. The Court sets full briefing and oral argument. Review would not mean Trump wins.
• Narrow review. The Court could take only the tolling question or only the sanctions.

A grant or denial would not decide whether the 2016 allegations were true.

Does Trump’s Lawsuit Prove Anything About the 2016 Election or Hillary Clinton?

No. The lawsuit’s allegations were never tested at trial. Courts dismissed it on legal grounds, including timeliness and pleading defects. The Supreme Court filing is a request to review those rulings, not a ruling on the underlying conduct.

Does Anyone Else Have a Claim or Anything to File in This Case?

No. This is not a class action or settlement. There is no claim form, deadline or public fund. Only the parties to the case, and any amici who seek leave to file, take part at the Supreme Court.

For another current report on federal constitutional precedent shaping a high-profile court decision, read our article Ron DeSantis Withdraws William Lee Thompson’s Death Warrant, Halting the Florida Execution Set for October 13, 2026.

Timeline: Trump v. Clinton Lawsuit From 2022 to the Supreme Court

Date	Event
2016 and 2017	Events on which the claims are based
March 24, 2022	Trump files suit in the Southern District of Florida
September 2022	Judge Middlebrooks dismisses the amended complaint
November 2022	Sanctions granted on Charles Dolan’s motion
January 2023	$937,989.39 sanctions order against Trump and Alina Habba
November 26, 2025	Eleventh Circuit affirms dismissal and sanctions
2026	Trump obtains extensions to file (Supreme Court No. 26A134)
October 9, 2026	Trump files the cert petition

Frequently Asked Questions About Trump’s Supreme Court Petition Against Hillary Clinton

Did Trump file a petition asking the Supreme Court to revive his lawsuit against Hillary Clinton?

Yes. He filed on Friday, October 9, 2026, according to Reuters and other outlets.

Has the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case?

No. A petition only asks the Court to review the case. Four justices must vote to grant it.

Why was Trump’s lawsuit dismissed?

The district judge found it legally inadequate and, in part, filed too late. The Eleventh Circuit upheld the dismissal, finding the remaining claims untimely and otherwise meritless.

How much were the sanctions?

$937,989.39 against Trump and attorney Alina Habba, jointly and severally, in a January 2023 order. Other sanctions orders were also entered. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed them in November 2025.

What is the legal argument about presidential duties?

Trump argues the time he spent as president should affect the filing deadline. The lower courts rejected reviving the claims.

Has Hillary Clinton been found to have done anything wrong in this case?

No. The claims were dismissed without a trial.

What is the statute of limitations for civil RICO claims?

Four years under Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, generally from when the plaintiff discovered the injury.

Does this affect other lawsuits?

Not directly. A Supreme Court ruling on tolling or sanctions could be cited in later cases.

Sources and Verification Notes

1. Reuters, “Trump takes suit against Hillary Clinton over 2016 election to Supreme Court,” October 9, 2026, as republished by the Detroit News: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/10/09/trump-takes-suit-against-hillary-clinton-over-2016-election-to-supreme-court/92180557007/
2. CNN (Spanish edition via ABC17), October 10, 2026: https://abc17news.com/cnn-spanish/2026/10/10/trump-pide-a-la-corte-suprema-de-justicia-de-ee-uu-que-reactive-su-demanda-electoral-de-2016-contra-hillary-clinton
3. NewsNation, “Trump asks Supreme Court to look at 2016 election lawsuit against Clinton”: https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/trump-clinton-supreme-court-election-lawsuit/
4. Eleventh Circuit opinion, Trump v. Clinton, No. 22-13410 (Nov. 26, 2025): https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202213410.pdf
5. Supreme Court docket No. 26A134 (extension application): https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26A134.html
6. Law cited: 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962, 1964(c); 28 U.S.C. §§ 1254(1), 1927; Fed. R. Civ. P. 11, 12(b); Sup. Ct. R. 10, 15; Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997); Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc., 483 U.S. 143 (1987); Rotella v. Wood, 528 U.S. 549 (2000); Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32 (1991).

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. The lawsuit’s allegations were dismissed and have not been proven.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the reporting of Reuters, CNN, The Hill and NewsNation, and the Eleventh Circuit’s published docket reference, as of October 11, 2026. Last Updated: October 11, 2026.