BREAKING NEWS: Trump Loses Russia Hoax Lawsuit Against Clinton, Owes Nearly $1 Million

Every legal attempt to prove the Russia investigation was fabricated has failed. Today's ruling cost Trump a million dollars

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the dismissal of Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and 28 other defendants. The court also upheld sanctions totaling $1,004,263.62 against Trump and his attorney Alina Habba for filing the case in bad faith.

Three judges heard the appeal. All three were appointed by Republican presidents. Two were appointed by Trump. The decision was unanimous.

This ruling closes the final legal avenue for the claim that Trump-Russia was a hoax. Every attempt to prove that claim in court has now failed.

The Legal Record

The Mueller investigation documented Russian interference in the 2016 election. It documented contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. It produced 34 indictments and multiple convictions. Those findings stand. No court has overturned them.

The counter-narrative — that the entire Russia investigation was fabricated by Clinton and the Democrats — has been tested in court repeatedly. It has failed every time.

Special Counsel John Durham spent four years and millions of dollars trying to prove the investigation was corrupt. He secured one guilty plea: FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith admitted to altering an email. He received probation. No jail time.

Durham brought two major prosecutions. Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for the Clinton campaign, was charged with lying to the FBI. A jury acquitted him. Igor Danchenko, a source for the Steele Dossier, was charged with making false statements. A jury acquitted him.

Durham’s final report made accusations. Juries rejected the cases built on those accusations.

Trump’s civil lawsuit was the last remaining vehicle. Filed in March 2022, it alleged that Clinton and her allies conspired to fabricate the Russia collusion story through the Steele Dossier and the Alfa Bank connection, then fed both to the FBI and the media.

Today that lawsuit ended with Trump owing a million dollars in sanctions.

What the Court Found

The appeals court did not rule on whether Trump-Russia was real or fabricated. It ruled that Trump’s attempt to prove it was fabricated failed completely.

His RICO claims were filed too late. The statute of limitations is four years. The court found Trump knew of his alleged injury by October 2017. He filed in March 2022 — five months after the deadline.

Trump argued the clock should have been paused during his presidency. His attorneys told the court he chose not to sue while in office because it would have looked like presidential interference with law enforcement.

The court called this admission fatal. Pausing the deadline requires circumstances beyond the plaintiff’s control. A strategic choice is the opposite of that.

The court catalogued what it called frivolous legal theories: “a malicious prosecution claim without a prosecution,” “a trade secret claim without a trade secret,” and seven counts that alleged no cause of action at all.

Trump’s complaint contained false allegations about specific defendants that remained in the filing even after opposing counsel flagged the errors. The court found these were “knowingly false or made in reckless disregard for the truth.”

Of sixteen original claims, Trump abandoned eleven on appeal.

The district court examined Trump’s litigation history and found a “pattern of misusing the courts.” The appeals court affirmed that finding.

The Durham Report Changed Nothing

After the lower court ruled, Trump’s attorneys argued the Durham Report should revive the case. They sought reconsideration based on Durham’s findings about the Steele Dossier and Crossfire Hurricane.

The court rejected this. While not rendering an opinion on the factual basis of the Durham Report, even if the claims in it were proven true (and they were not) the legal defects remained. The deadline had passed. The claims were frivolous. The report added no fact previously unknown to Trump or his attorneys.

Durham’s accusations, already rejected by two juries, could not save Trump’s civil case either.

What This Means

The “Russia hoax” narrative has now been tested in every available legal forum. Criminal prosecutions. Civil litigation. Each time it has collapsed.

The original Russia investigation produced convictions that stand. The attempt to prove that investigation was fabricated has produced two acquittals, one probation, and a million-dollar sanctions order against the man who claims he was the victim.

Courts do not determine political truth. But they do weigh evidence, apply law, and reach verdicts. The verdicts are in.

Sussmann: not guilty. Danchenko: not guilty. Trump v. Clinton: dismissed with sanctions for bad faith.

Trump spent years promising that the courts would vindicate him and expose the Russia investigation as a fraud. He finally got his day in court. A conservative panel made him pay for bringing the case.

The legal system has spoken. Trump-Russia is not a hoax.

---

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Narativ first reported on Trump’s Russia connections in December 2016 with “The Russia House.” Today, every legal attempt to prove Trump-Russia was a hoax has failed. Sussmann acquitted. Danchenko acquitted. Trump’s lawsuit dismissed with nearly $1 million in sanctions. If Trump-Russia is not a hoax, then it’s true. That’s been our reporting and our position for nine years.

— Z

PAID SUBSCRIBERS: Can access the court opinion below; and the original Russia House report on Narativ - from December 13, 2016.