A federal judge in Florida issued nearly $1 million in sanctions against former President Donald Trump and his attorneys over their “frivolous” lawsuit filed against Hillary Clinton and several other defendants involved in the Russia collusion hoax.
In March, Trump sued Clinton, the Democrat National Commission (DNC), and several others for their alleged malicious conspiracy to “weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty.”
Ultimately, Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed the case for all defendants except for the U.S. government in September.
Along with Clinton and the DNC, other defendants included former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, the Perkins Coie law firm, the Fusion GPS research firm, Christopher Steele, and several former FBI officials, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, and Lisa Page.
Bill Clinton-appointed Middlebrooks on Thursday imposed $937,989.39 in sanctions, for which Trump and his lead attorney, Alina Habba of Habba Madaio & Associates, are “jointly and severally liable.”
“This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it,” Middlebrooks wrote. “Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.”
“Thirty-one individuals and entities were needlessly harmed in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative,” Middlebrooks continued. “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.”
The case is Trump v. Clinton, No. 22-14102-CV in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.