What Happens Now

• Trump is asking the Supreme Court to revive a lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring to damage his 2016 campaign through allegations tying him to Russia.
• The Eleventh Circuit upheld the dismissal and nearly $1 million in sanctions, meaning Trump now needs at least four Supreme Court justices to vote to hear the case.
• Former FBI Director James Comey, one of the original defendants, is separately fighting an active federal criminal prosecution in North Carolina, where his arraignment has been pushed into January 2027.

By Samuel López | USA Herald

President Donald Trump went back to court Friday over a legal fight that began four years ago — this time asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his sprawling lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and others tied to the political and investigative fallout from the 2016 election.

Trump's petition seeks review of the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Trump v. Clinton, 161 F.4th 671 (11th Cir. 2025), which largely upheld the dismissal of his lawsuit and affirmed sanctions approaching $1 million against Trump and attorneys involved in bringing it.

The original case, Trump v. Clinton, No. 2:22-cv-14102-DMM (S.D. Fla.), was filed in March 2022. Trump accused Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, former FBI Director James Comey, Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS, Perkins Coie and others of participating in a conspiracy to promote allegations linking his campaign to Russia. Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed the lawsuit in 2022. He later imposed sanctions totaling $937,989.39 against Trump, attorney Alina Habba and her firm, finding the litigation had been brought in bad faith. Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

The Eleventh Circuit did not give Trump the reversal he wanted. In November 2025, a three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal against nearly all defendants and upheld both sanctions orders. The appellate court made one limited change involving Orbis Business Intelligence, ruling that claims against the British company should have been dismissed without prejudice because the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over it. Midpage

Trump and Habba have argued that the lower-court rulings carry consequences far beyond this lawsuit, telling the Supreme Court that they have a "profound impact on the presidency, and the nation as a whole." Trump received an extension from Justice Clarence Thomas giving him until October 9 to seek Supreme Court review. Supreme Court

What happens next is important because filing a petition does not mean the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.

The respondents — including Clinton and other defendants — may file briefs opposing Supreme Court review. Trump can then file a reply. The justices will eventually consider the petition in conference.

Trump needs at least four of the nine justices to vote to grant certiorari.

If fewer than four agree, the petition is denied and the Eleventh Circuit ruling remains intact. If four justices vote to hear it, the Court would order full merits briefing and could schedule oral argument.

That makes this stage a gateway, not a retrial. The immediate question before the justices is whether the legal issues raised by Trump warrant Supreme Court review — not whether Clinton or any other defendant actually participated in the conspiracy Trump alleged.

One defendant from the original lawsuit now faces a very different legal battle.

Former FBI Director James Comey is currently charged in United States v. Comey, No. 4:26-cr-00016-FL-RN (E.D.N.C.), over his May 2025 Instagram post showing seashells arranged to read "86 47." A federal grand jury charged Comey with threatening the president under 18 U.S.C. § 871(a) and transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). Comey has denied that the post was intended as a threat. Department of Justice

Each count carries a statutory maximum of five years in federal prison. Because federal felony fines can reach $250,000 per count, his theoretical maximum exposure is 10 years and $500,000 in fines if convicted on both charges, although any actual sentence would depend on federal sentencing law and the judge.

Comey's lawyers have moved to dismiss the indictment on several grounds, including that the post did not constitute a legally actionable "true threat" and that the prosecution is selective and vindictive.

His arraignment had been scheduled for September 30, with trial set for October 21. That schedule is gone.

On September 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan granted Comey's request to continue the case, finding that additional preparation time and unresolved motions justified delay. The arraignment will now take place in January 2027, and a new trial date will be set afterward if Comey pleads not guilty. Comey's defense proposed a February 2027 trial. Carolina Journal

That September 25 continuance order is also the most recent major publicly reported docket development in the case.

For Trump, however, the next legal move now belongs to the Supreme Court. His Clinton lawsuit has survived politically for years. Whether it survives legally depends first on a far narrower question — whether four justices believe the case deserves another hearing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samuel López is a reporter and news correspondent for USA Herald who has reported for the publication since 2022. López has more than two decades of experience in the legal field analyzing state and federal litigation, complex civil matters, appellate procedure and court filings. His legal background informs USA Herald's coverage of federal courts, judicial procedure and major national litigation.

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