Trump’s case against Clinton and the Democratic Party was « completely frivolous, both factually and legally, » a federal judge ruled.
Former President Donald Trump and his lawyers must pay almost $1 million in sanctions after filing a « completely frivolous » lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. In a Thursday ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Trump and his lead attorney, Alina Habba of Habba Madaio & Associates, to pay $937,989.39.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Trump in March 2022. Trump’s suit accused Clinton, the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, former FBI Director James Comey, and a number of others of a racketeering « plot » against him. Clinton and the others had « maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty » during the 2016 election, it said.
« This case should never have been brought, » wrote Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks in yesterday’s decision. « Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim. »
He went on to call Trump’s complaint « completely frivolous, both factually and legally … brought in bad faith for an improper purpose, » « a hodgepodge of disconnected, often immaterial events, followed by an implausible conclusion, » and « a deliberate attempt to harass; to tell a story without regard to facts. »
« A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans, and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm, » wrote Middlebrooks, who dismissed the suit last September and had already granted one motion for sanctions from a defendant in the suit.
