Donald Trump Fined By Florida Judge Over ‘Frivolous’ Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump and one of his lawyers were ordered by a Florida judge to pay nearly $1 million for filing a bogus lawsuit against the former President's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and others.

In a Thursday filing, U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks accused Trump of a “pattern of abuse of the courts” for filing frivolous lawsuits for political purposes. The judge said that it “undermines the rule of law” and “amounts to obstruction of justice," reported the Associated Press. He wrote that the lawsuit should never have been filed, and that it was "completely frivolous, both factually and legally, and which was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose."

In the last few months, Trump had taken legal action against the Pulitzer Prize board, CNN, New York’s attorney general and big tech companies. Citing them, the judge described Trump as “a prolific and sophisticated litigant” who uses the courts “to seek revenge on political adversaries.” The judge called Trump the "mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process."

According to The Boston Globe, the new ruling requires Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba to pay nearly $ 9,38,000 to the defendants in the case. Trump had filed the lawsuit in March against Clinton, who was the 2016 presidential nominee from the Democratic Party, reported CNBC. Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS were some of the other defendants.

In September 2022, Middlebrooks dismissed the lawsuit that Trump had filed. The judge rejected the former president’s claims that the defendants conspired to sink his winning presidential campaign in 2016 by alleging ties to Russia.

Following the fine, former President on Friday withdrew his lawsuit, which had also been before Middlebrooks, against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump sued her in November 2022 in response to her lawsuit. She alleged that he and his company misled banks and others about the value of assets in a practice that she called “The art of the steal.”

Trump has been facing a series of legal setbacks, which have included the criminal conviction in December 2022 in New York state court of the Trump Organization. It was for a years-long tax avoidance scheme.