Donald Trump and one of his attorneys were ordered on Thursday to pay almost $1 million in penalties over a lawsuit filed against Hillary Clinton and others which alleged a massive conspiracy against Trump before the 2016 election. “This case should never have been brought,” U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida wrote of the case, which was dismissed in September. “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.” Middlebrooks’ 46-page order imposed sanctions of $937,989.39 against Trump and lead attorney Alina Habba over their suit, first filed in March 2022, which claimed Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and senior FBI officials had conspired to cook up false ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia. The judge also slammed Trump’s “pattern of misusing the courts to serve political purposes,” adding: “Frivolous lawsuits should not be used as a vehicle for fundraising or fodder for rallies or social media.”
