On Thursday, former President Donald Trump filed lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee, their 2018 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and 24 others, charging he was the victim of a smear campaign to tie his campaign to Russia.
"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," the lawsuit states.
President Trump is seeking legal costs and expenses he estimates to be "in excess of twenty-four million dollars" and counting.
No doubt many of President Trump's supporters will applaud the lawsuit. And that may be the whole point. But President Trump should be careful. He may well see the whole thing backfire on him.
That's because defense lawyers will be able to depose him and former staffers whose testimony is considered relevant. Under oath. Under penalty of perjury.
President Trump has never liked questions he doesn't want to answer and very likely won't like some of tho questions asked in a deposition. His answers -- or refusal to answer -- may prove embarrassing at very least. The answers of former staffers called as witnesses might prove even more so.
Right now the former president is no doubt reveling in the headlines. But how far will he take this lawsuit when things become a lot less enjoyable?