A federal judge on Thursday sanctioned former President Donald Trump over a lawsuit he filed last year, calling it politically motivated and filed in bad faith. File Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI |
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Jan. 20 (UPI) -- In a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump's litigation practices, a federal judge has fined the former president and his legal team nearly $1 million over a since-dismissed lawsuit they filed against Hilary Clinton that accused her of besmirching the New York real estate mogul and rigging the 2016 presidential election.
"We are confronted with a lawsuit that should never have been filed, which was completely frivolous, both factually and legally, and which was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose," Judge John Middlebrooks for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said in his ruling.
The lawsuit was filed on March 24 seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages on accusations that Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and some two dozen others conspired to "weave a false narrative" that Trump was colluding with Russia in order to cripple his 2016 presidential election campaign.
Middlebrooks threw out the case in September, stating Trump was not seeking redress for legal harm but to flaunt a "political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him."
In his order Thursday, Middlebrooks, a President Bill Clinton appointee, chastised Trump over a lawsuit he said had no "cognizable legal claim," while stating "[n]o reasonable lawyer would have filed it."
"Thirty-one individuals and entities were needlessly harmed in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative. 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," he said.
Middlebrooks added that Trump is "a prolific and sophisticated litigant" who uses the court to "seek revenge on political adversaries."
"He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer," the judge said. "He knew full well the impact of his actions."
As evidence of Trump's abuse of the court for political purposes, Middlebrooks pointed to several other lawsuits filed by the former president, including against Twitter, the Pulitzer Board, the New York attorney general and others.
Middlebrooks said that he was sanctioning Trump and his lawyers not for those cases but that his "widespread and persistent conduct points to the need for deterrence in this case."
"Mr. Trump's deliberate use of a frivolous lawsuit for an improper purpose constitutes bad faith," Middlebrooks said. "And the behavior is not unique, but part of a plan, or at least a playbook."
Under his order, Trump and his lead attorney, Alina Habba, are jointly and severally liable for $937,989.
Thursday's announcement comes after Middlebrooks in November sanctioned Trump's counsel for $66,000. in the same case.
