The sanctions should be higher for this type of abuse of the legal system. Judge sanctions Trump, Habba nearly $1 million for ‘completely frivolous’ Clinton suit The judge ordered Trump and Habba to pay $938,000 to cover the legal costs for the 31 defendants Trump linked in his year-old lawsuit. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/19/judge-sanctions-trump-habba-clinton-00078700 A Florida-based federal judge has ordered nearly $1 million in sanctions against Donald Trump and his attorney Alina Habba, calling the former president a “mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process.” In a blistering 46-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks said Trump’s sprawling lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and dozens of former Justice Department and FBI officials was an almost cartoonish abuse of the legal system. “Here, 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,” Middlebrooks wrote. “Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts 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 ordered Trump and Habba to pay $938,000 to cover the legal costs for the 31 defendants Trump linked in his year-old lawsuit. It’s the second time Middlebrooks has sanctioned Habba in the Clinton lawsuit. The first time was a $50,000 order sought by a single defendant, Charles Dolan. The new round of sanctions was sought by the remaining defendants. In the new order, Hillary Clinton got the biggest award of fees for a single defendant: almost $172,000. It’s the latest legal setback for Trump, who continues to face peril in advancing criminal probes and civil lawsuits related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election and his retention of sensitive national security records at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office. Middlebrooks’ ruling included a point-by-point recitation of the flaws in Trump’s initial lawsuit, noting that it often misstated, distorted or cherrypicked from key documents he claimed supported allegations of a grand conspiracy between Clinton and the Justice Department to target Trump for criminal prosecution. “The Amended Complaint is a hodgepodge of disconnected, often immaterial events, followed by an implausible conclusion. This is a deliberate attempt to harass; to tell a story without regard to facts,” Middlebrooks, an appointee of former president Bill Clinton, wrote. He specifically cited Trump’s claim that Clinton conspired with former FBI Director James Comey to seek a Trump prosecution — one that Middlebrooks noted never occurred — as “categorically absurd.” He also noted that Trump and Habba repeatedly mischaracterized the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. They also cited Russian intelligence — shared by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe with Sen. Lindsey Graham — as a basis for one of their claims, without noting that it was Russian intelligence and that Ratcliffe said it was unverified. “Mr. Trump’s lawyers saw no professional impediment or irony in relying upon Russian intelligence as the good faith basis for their allegation,” Middlebrooks wrote. In his order, Middlebrooks cited Habba’s attacks on him in a Fox News interview, which he said continued to distort the facts of the case and make baseless allegations of improprieties by federal judges and magistrates. He also recounted a litany of other cases filed by Trump and his attorneys that bore similar hallmarks of frivolity.
So much losing....the likes never seen before in the history of this great country. Judge lists the 'telltale signs' of a frivolous Trump lawsuit in scathing order In an order granting sanctions against former President Donald Trump's legal team on Thursday in Trump v. Clinton, Florida-based federal District Judge Donald Middlebrooks outlined all of the "telltale signs" that the former president had brought a frivolous legal action. "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. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim," wrote Middlebrooks. "The behavior is not unique, but part of a plan, or at least a playbook," the judge continued. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Judge slaps aside Trump attorney's key conspiracy accusation against his niece One of the key contentions made by Donald Trump's lawsuit filed against his niece Mary Trump over a privacy agreement involving his financial records earned a stiff rebuke from New York State Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Reed on Thursday, reports Courthouse News. The former president has been battling with his niece for years over Trump family money and, in a case now being heard, has accused her of violating a 20-year-old agreement about the privacy of the documents shared. According to Courthouse News, Reed told the two, "You used the word ordered again,” before adding, “What authority did they exercise over her, such that she, a grown woman, licensed clinical psychologist, could be compelled by Sue Craig to take any action?” You can read more here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trump drops $250 million lawsuit against Letitia James after judge's stark warning Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn his $250 million lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James, ABC News reports. The withdrawal comes after U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks warned Trump's legal team that the lawsuit was borderline frivolous. "Plaintiff, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, by and through his undersigned counsel and pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i), hereby voluntarily dismisses his claims in this action against Defendant, LETITIA JAMES, without prejudice," the letter said. The lawsuit sought to shield Trump's revocable trust from James, who is suing the Trump Organization for fraudulent conduct.