A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by former President Donald Trump against President Joe Biden, which sought to have the court declare that Biden’s political contributions were illegal. The lawsuit, filed in October 2022, alleged that Biden had accepted illegal contributions from foreign nationals and failed to disclose them.
In his ruling, Judge Juan Merchan, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, stated that Trump had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims. Merchan wrote that the lawsuit was “based on a series of unsupported and speculative assertions,” and that the allegations of illegal contributions “were conclusory and devoid of factual allegations.”
The judge’s decision comes as Trump and his allies continue to promote baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won. Trump has repeatedly alleged that the election was stolen from him, despite no evidence to support his claims.
In response to the ruling, the Biden campaign released a statement calling the lawsuit a “baseless attempt to undermine confidence in the integrity of our elections.” The statement continued, “We’re glad that the court has rejected this meritless lawsuit, and we hope that this will finally put an end to President Trump’s efforts to overturn the will of the American people.”
The decision marks the latest legal setback for Trump, who has faced numerous lawsuits since leaving office in January 2021. Trump’s legal challenges have largely been unsuccessful, with judges frequently citing a lack of evidence to support his claims.
