A federal judge on Thursday ordered sanctions against former President Donald Trump’s lawyers in his failed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and several others he alleged conspired to undermine the 2016 presidential election.
Judge Donald Middlebrooks ordered Trump attorneys Alina Habba, Michael Madaio, Peter Ticktin, Jamie Alan Sasson and their law firms to pay $50,000 in court penalties and $16,274.23 in legal fees to Charles Dolan, one of the most by two dozen individuals or entities named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Middlebrooks, who previously dismissed the lawsuit, calling it a “two-hundred-page political manifesto,” said the lawyers ignored warnings from Dolan, a Clinton campaign volunteer, and his lawyer that their figures were wrong, including key information such as where he lived.
“The pleadings in this case contained factual allegations that were either knowingly false or made in reckless disregard of the truth,” Middlebrooks wrote.
“Not only did it start from a shotgun plea, this was a shotgun lawsuit. Thirty-one individuals and organizations were subpoenaed, forced to hire lawyers to defend frivolous claims,” the judge wrote. “The only common thread against them was hostility to Mr. Trump.”
Middlebrooks added: “The plaintiff deliberately falsified public documents by selectively using certain sections while omitting other information, including findings and conclusions that contradict his narrative. … It was too frequent to be coincidental. Every claim was frivolous, most barred by neat, well-established existing law. These were political complaints masquerading as legal claims.”
“This cannot be attributed to an incompetent lawyer,” he wrote. “It was a deliberate use of the court system to pursue a political agenda.”
Dolan’s attorney, George Doumar, praised the decision. “Trying to use the courts for political purposes is undermining the foundations of our justice system, I think that’s the message being sent. This message applies to lawyers and clients,” Doumar said.
“We gave Trump’s lawyers multiple warnings, and instead of heeding the warnings and acting as guardians of the integrity of the judicial system as lawyers are supposed to do, they doubled down on baseless allegations and apparently chose not to tell their client that was the case. mistake they couldn’t move on,” added Doumar.
“It should come as no surprise that we will be appealing this decision,” Habba said in a statement after the ruling.
Ticktin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump appealed the dismissal of the suit.
