A judge in Florida handed down a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump and one of his attorneys on Friday, accusing the former president of attempting to use the courts to "seek revenge on political adversaries."
U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, who was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, in January ordered Trump and his attorney Alina Habba to pay nearly $1 million in damages to defendants for what he described as a "frivolous" lawsuit. In March 2022, Trump attempted to sue 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, some of her key advisers and top FBI officials for $70 million in damages—saying they had conspired against him with allegations that he was compromised by Russia.
Despite the significant financial sanctions, Habba refiled the lawsuit in August after the May release of the report from the Department of Justice's (DOJ) special counsel John Durham. The special counsel was appointed by Trump's former U.S. Attorney General William Barr to investigate the probe into Trump's ties to Russia. While the special counsel uncovered improper actions by some FBI officials, Durham did not manage to secure significant convictions as Trump and his allies had hoped.
In his Friday decision, Middlebrooks reiterated his previous views that the entire legal endeavor was frivolous. He wrote that the Durham report did not provide any new support for Trump's claims in the lawsuit.
"Even if the Durham Report uncovered the sort of vast conspiracy alleged by Plaintiff (it plainly did not), it would not change the many legal conclusions I made in the Order dismissing Plaintiff's lawsuit. And whatever the Durham Report can be said to have uncovered, for purposes of this case, it does not change my findings that Movants acted in bad faith in bringing this lawsuit and that this case exemplifies Mr. Trump's history of abusing the judicial process. Therefore, for the reasons set forth below, Plaintiff and his lawyers' Motion for Indicative Ruling Based Upon New Evidence is denied," the judge wrote.
The judge's 17-page decision slammed Habba and Trump for refiling the case.
"I struggle to even imagine anything that the Durham Report could say to warrant a change in any of those conclusions—the sum of which foreclosed Plaintiff's claims and led to sanctions," Middlebrooks added.
In conclusion, the judge called Trump "a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries," adding that the "case is straight out of that playbook."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's press representatives and Habba's firm via email for comment.
In January, Middlebrooks wrote that the "case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it." He described the lawsuit as "a quintessential shotgun pleading" that only served "a political purpose."
Trump is the "the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process," the judge added, sanctioning the former president and his attorney $937,989.39. Habba and Trump later appealed the judge's sanctions.
"The Florida federal lawsuit filed on behalf of President Trump was factually correct and legally sound," Jesse Binnall, a lawyer for Trump and Habba, who was handling the appeal said in February, according to CNBC.
"We look forward to making our case to the Eleventh Circuit as each and every one of the decisions by the district court should be decisively reversed," Binnall said.
Trump has consistently denied all allegations that he was colluding with Russia in 2016. Lengthy probes by Democratic lawmakers and a special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller failed to conclude that his 2016 presidential campaign was working with Moscow.
The former president has described the entire Russia narrative as a "hoax" and routinely says his political opponents are engaging in a "witch hunt" against him. While Trump has now been indicted four times, and has plead not guilty in each case, he and his allies say that all charges and investigations are politically motivated.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
