Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton Opinion

The court agrees with the defense position that "[w]hatever the utilities of [the Amended Complaint] as a fundraising tool, a press release, or a list of political grievances, it has no merit as a lawsuit."

I'm slammed today, so I can't offer much detail; but I thought I'd include a link and the opening discussion (the opinion was issued yesterday by Judge Donald Middlebrooks (S.D. Fla.)):

Plaintiff initiated this lawsuit on March 24, 2022, alleging that "the Defendants, blinded by political ambition, orchestrated a malicious conspiracy to disseminate patently false and injurious information about Donald J. Trump and his campaign, all in the hopes of destroying his life, his political career and rigging the 2016 Presidential Election in favor of Hillary Clinton." On this general premise, Plaintiff brings a claim for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), predicated on the theft of trade secrets, obstruction of justice, and wire fraud (Count I). He additionally brings claims for: injurious falsehood (Count III); malicious prosecution (Count V); violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA") (Count VII); theft of trade secrets under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 ("DTSA") (Count VIII); and violations of the Stored Communications Act ("SCA") (Count IX). The Amended Complaint also contains counts for various conspiracy charges and theories of agency and vicarious liability. (Counts II, IV, VI, and X–XVI).

Plaintiff's theory of this case, set forth over 527 paragraphs in the first 118 pages of the Amended Complaint, is difficult to summarize in a concise and cohesive manner. It was certainly not presented that way. Nevertheless, I will attempt to distill it here.

The short version: Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants "[a]cting in concert … maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty." The Defendants effectuated this alleged conspiracy through two core efforts. "[O]n one front, Perkins Coie partner Mark Elias led an effort to produce spurious 'opposition research' claiming to reveal illicit ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives." To that end, Defendant Hillary Clinton and her campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and lawyers for the Campaign and the Committee allegedly hired Defendant Fusion GPS to fabricate the Steele Dossier. "[O]n a separate front, Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussman headed a campaign to develop misleading evidence of a bogus 'back channel' connection between e-mail servers at Trump Tower and a Russian- owned bank."

Clinton and her operatives allegedly hired Defendant Rodney Joffe to exploit his access to Domain Name Systems ("DNS") data, via Defendant Neustar, to investigate and ultimately manufacture a suspicious pattern of activity between Trump-related servers and a Russian bank with ties to Vladimir Putin, Alfa Bank. As a result of this "fraudulent evidence," the Federal Bureau of Investigations ("FBI") commenced "several large-scale investigations," which were "prolonged and exacerbated by the presence of a small faction of Clinton loyalists who were well-positioned within the Department of Justice"—Defendants James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Kevin Clinesmith, and Bruce Ohr. And while this was ongoing, the Defendants allegedly "seized on the opportunity to publicly malign Donald J. Trump by instigating a full-blown media frenzy." As a result of this "multi-pronged attack," Plaintiff claims to have amassed $24 million in damages {includ[ing] fees amassed in bringing the present action}.

Defendants now move to dismiss the Amended Complaint as "a series of disconnected political disputes that Plaintiff has alchemized into a sweeping conspiracy among the many individuals Plaintiff believes to have aggrieved him." They argue that dismissal is warranted because Plaintiff's claims are both "hopelessly stale"—that is, foreclosed by the applicable statutes of limitations—and because they fail on the merits "in multiple independent respects." As they view it, "[w]hatever the utilities of [the Amended Complaint] as a fundraising tool, a press release, or a list of political grievances, it has no merit as a lawsuit."

I agree. In the discussion that follows, I first address the Amended Complaint's structural deficiencies. I then turn to subject matter jurisdiction and the personal jurisdiction arguments raised by certain Defendants. Finally, I assess the sufficiency of the allegations as to each of the substantive counts….

Discussion

First, the pleading itself. A complaint filed in federal court must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Each allegation must be simple, concise, and direct. Each claim must be stated in numbered  paragraphs, and each numbered paragraph limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances.

Plaintiff's Amended Complaint is 193 pages in length, with 819 numbered paragraphs. It contains 14 counts, names 31 defendants, 10 "John Does" described as fictitious and unknown persons, and 10 "ABC Corporations" identified as fictitious and unknown entities. Plaintiff's Amended Complaint is neither short nor plain, and it certainly does not establish that Plaintiff is entitled to any relief.

More troubling, the claims presented in the Amended Complaint are not warranted under existing law. In fact, they are foreclosed by existing precedent, including decisions of the Supreme Court. To illustrate, I highlight here just two glaring problems with the Amended Complaint. There are many others. But these are emblematic of the audacity of Plaintiff's legal theories and the manner in which they clearly contravene binding case law.

First, the Amended Complaint's answer to the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the original Complaint, wherein Defendants noted the lack of predicate RICO offenses, was to add another predicate offense—wire fraud. The Amended Complaint alleges that the Defendants "engaged in a calculated scheme to defraud the news media, law enforcement, and counterintelligence officials for the purpose of proliferating a false narrative of collusion between Trump and Russia." Not only does Plaintiff lack standing to complain about an alleged scheme to defraud the news media, but his lawyers ignore the Supreme Court's holdings that the federal wire fraud statute prohibits only deceptive schemes to deprive the victim of money or property. It is necessary to show not only that a defendant engaged in deception, but that an object of the fraud was property. Kelly v. United States, 140 S. Ct. 1565, 1571 (2020); Cleveland v. United States, 531 U.S. 12, 26 (2000). Likewise, the Amended Complaint, like its predecessor, fails to account for the Supreme Court's requirement that to obstruct justice there must be a nexus to a judicial or grand jury proceeding. United States v. Aquilar, 515 U.S. 593, 599 (1995); see also United States v. Friske, 640 F.3d 1288, 1291 (11th Cir. 2011).

Many of the Amended Complaint's characterizations of events are implausible because they lack any specific allegations which might provide factual support for the conclusions reached. For instance, the contention that former FBI director James Comey, senior FBI officials, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "overzealously targeted" Plaintiff and conspired to harm him through appointment of special counsel are strikingly similar to the conclusory and formulaic allegations found deficient in the seminal Supreme Court case of Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009). What the Amended Complaint lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances.

Plaintiff has annotated the Amended Complaint with 293 footnotes containing references to various public reports and findings. He is not required to annotate his Complaint; in fact, it is inconsistent with Rule 8's requirement of a short and plain statement of the claim. But if a party chooses to include such references, it is expected that they be presented in good faith and with evidentiary support. Unfortunately, that is not the case here.

Two examples illustrate this. Paragraph 3 of the Amended Complaint states in part: "[t]he scheme was conceived, coordinated and carried out by top-level officials at the Clinton Campaign, and the DNC—including 'the candidate' herself—who attempted to shield her involvement behind a wall of third parties." To support that statement, footnote 1 cites the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation at 96 (2019). I went to page 96 of the Inspector General's Report looking for support for Plaintiff's conclusory and argumentative statement but found none. The Inspector General's Report is referenced throughout the Amended Complaint, in support of Plaintiff's claim that senior officials of the FBI and Department of Justice conspired to harm him through a baseless investigation. However, the Amended Complaint fails to acknowledge that the Inspector General's Report, while acknowledging deficiencies, reached the following ultimate conclusion:

The decision to open the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation was made by the FBI's then Counterintelligence Division (CD) Assistant Director (AD) E.W. "Bill" Priestap, and reflected consensus reached after multiple days of discussions and meetings among senior FBI officials. We conclude AD Priestap's exercise of discretion in opening the investigation was in compliance with Department and FBI policies, and we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivations influenced his decision—we found that Crossfire Hurricane was opened for an authorized investigative purpose and with sufficient factual predicate.

Plaintiff and his lawyers are of course free to reject the conclusion of the Inspector General. But they cannot misrepresent it in a pleading.

Likewise, the Amended Complaint cites copiously to the indictment of Michael Sussmann and a substantial portion of the Amended Complaint contains its allegations. Exhibits and testimony from the trial are also included. But nowhere does the Amended Complaint mention Mr. Sussmann's acquittal. See United States v. Sussmann, No. 21-cr-582 (D.D.C.) In presenting a pleading, an attorney certifies that it is not being presented for any improper purpose; that the claims are warranted under the law; and that the factual contentions have evidentiary support. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11. By filing the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff's lawyers certified to the Court that, to the best of their knowledge, "the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law," and that "the factual contentions have evidentiary support[.]" Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(2). I have serious doubts about whether that standard is met here.

The sprawling nature of the Amended Complaint and the number of defendants makes analysis difficult to organize. I will endeavor to examine each count, separately referencing individual defendants where appropriate….