A federal judge on Thursday sanctioned former President Donald Trump and attorney Alina Habba nearly $1 million for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.
U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of Southern Florida ruled that Trump, Habba and Habba Madaio & Associates were liable for $937,989 in the suit, which he dismissed in September.
"This case should never have been brought," Middlebrooks, who was appointed by then-President Bill Clinton, wrote to begin his order on sanction court filing.
"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."
Newsmax asked Trump's campaign and Habba's spokesperson for comment on the sanctions.
In March, Trump sued Clinton, who was his opponent in the 2016 presidential election, and several other Democrats, alleging that they tried to rig that election by tying his campaign to Russia.
Middlebrooks in November sanctioned Habba and three other attorneys for their handling of the since-dismissed lawsuit. They were ordered to pay a $50,000 court penalty, along with more than $16,000 in attorney fees to one of the named defendants in Trump's lawsuit.
In Thursday's order, Middlebrooks ordered Trump and Habba to cover the legal costs for the 31 defendants linked to the lawsuit.
The judge also called out Trump in the order.
"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," the judge 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. He knew full well the impact of his actions."
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