President Trump is pushing his lawsuit against Hillary Clinton all the way to the Supreme Court
He is seeking to overturn an appellate ruling that rejected his claims and hit him with nearly $1 million in sanctions.Justice Clarence Thomas granted Trump’s request for more time to file a formal petition with the high court, extending the deadline to September 9. Thomas handles routine administrative motions from the relevant circuit, and the extension itself does not signal how any justice might vote on the merits. But the move keeps alive a legal fight that Trump’s own attorneys say raises “exceptionally important” issues with consequences for the presidency itself.
The case, Trump v. Clinton, centers on Trump’s allegation that Clinton and others conspired to “weave a false narrative” that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. A lower court tossed the suit. A conservative appeals court upheld that dismissal and went further, imposing sanctions of nearly $1 million against Trump, his attorney Alina Habba, and Habba’s law firm. The appellate panel wrote that “many of Trump’s and Habba’s legal arguments were indeed frivolous.”
Trump’s legal team disagrees. In their extension motion, filed July 23, his lawyers argued that the ruling and sanctions carry “profound impact on the Presidency, and the nation as a whole.” They signaled that the forthcoming petition will challenge both the substance of the dismissal and the sanctions themselves.
Four justices must agree to hear a case before the Supreme Court grants review, a high bar that most petitions never clear. Whether Trump can persuade that many remains an open question.
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