Hillary Clinton asks judge to throw out Trump’s $24m lawsuit accusing her of trying to smear him over Russia

‘Whatever the utility of Plaintiff’s 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’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton filed court papers asking a Florida federal judge to toss out a lawsuit accusing her and a host of other figures of orchestrating a massive conspiracy to rig the 2016 election because the lawsuit was filed too late and does not allege any provable facts.

“Whatever the utility of Plaintiff’s 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,” wrote longtime Clinton attorney David Kendall on Wednesday in a motion to dismiss filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Mr Trump filed the 108-page lawsuit against Ms Clinton and a series of former Clinton campaign staffers, Democratic operatives, and other figures who’ve become household names as a result of the series of investigations that spring out of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election on Mr Trump’s behalf.

“Acting in concert, the Defendants maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty," his lawyers wrote, calling the alleged scheme “so outrageous, subversive and incendiary that even the events of Watergate pale in comparison."

Shortly after the case was filed, Mr Trump’s attorneys filed a motion to disqualify the judge the case was assigned to, citing the fact that he was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, Ms Clinton’s husband.

The judge, David Middlebrooks, rejected the Trump motion for disqualification shortly after, writing: “Other than my appointment by Bill Clinton, I do not now have, nor have I ever had any relationship with the Clintons”.

Hillary Clinton (REUTERS)

“Every federal judge is appointed by a president who is affiliated with a major political party, and therefore every federal judge could theoretically be viewed as beholden, to some extent or another. As judges, we must all transcend politics,” he wrote.

“When I became a federal judge, I took an oath to “faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties . . . under the Constitution and laws of the United States.” I have done so for the last twenty-five years, and this case will be no different.