The Democratic Party is suing Russia, Donald Trump's election campaign and WikiLeaks for conspiring to damage Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the 2016 presidential election.

Documents filed in New York federal court show Democrats have opened a fresh front in their campaign against President Donald Trump that could reveal fresh evidence of collusion between his team and Russian officials.

The 66-page lawsuit lays out the known facts about Russian meddling in the election and alleges that senior Trump aides conspired with Moscow and its military spy agency to tilt the outcome to Mr Trump as they hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) computers and released embarrassing information.

“During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s campaign,” Tom Perez, DNC chairman, said in a statement.

“This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for president of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency.”