A US federal judge on Thursday fined former President Donald Trump and his attorney nearly $1 million for filing a “futile” lawsuit against Hillary Clinton alleging she attempted to defraud the president in 2016 would.
Judge John Middlebrooks ruled that the Republican billionaire, who hopes to return to the White House in 2024, committed an “abuse of the courts” by filing a lawsuit “to dishonestly advance a political narrative.”
The request, which Judge Middlebrooks denied last year, alleged that Clinton and others tried to convince the public that Trump’s campaign was colluding with Russia. The ex-president demanded $70 million in damages from his former rival, whom he finally defeated in the November 2016 presidential election.
That lawsuit “should never have been brought,” the judge said in his 45-page ruling.
“Their inadequacy as a remedy was evident from the outset. No sane lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the complaint’s arguments constitute an admissible legal claim,” the judge wrote again.
The ruling ordered Mr Trump and his attorney, Alina Habba, jointly and severally to pay $937,989.39 to cover the opposing party’s legal costs.
Justice Middlebrooks wrote that Donald Trump was a “prolific and resourceful litigator who repeatedly uses the courts to exact revenge on his political opponents.”
“He is the architect of a strategic diversion of the court process, and he cannot be considered a litigant who would blindly follow a lawyer’s advice. He knew full well the implications of his actions,” he added.