Judge fines Trump nearly $1m for Clinton lawsuit

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A US judge has ordered Donald Trump and one of his lawyers to jointly pay nearly $1m (£809,190) in fines for a "frivolous" lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and others.

The lawsuit accused Mrs Clinton and others of trying to rig the 2016 US presidential election by linking his campaign to Russia.

"This case should never have been brought," wrote US District Judge Donald M Middlebrooks in his order.

The former president's lawsuit, filed last March, accused Mrs Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others of conspiring to "weave a false narrative" during the 2016 election that his campaign was colluding with Russia to win the race.

Mr Trump had sought $70m in damages.

The suit was dismissed in September, and Mr Trump was fined over $65,000 in fees and penalties in November after one defendant sought sanctions.

Thursday's order came after a group of defendants, including Mrs Clinton, filed a new request for sanctions.
In the ruling, Judge Middlebrooks called Mr Trump a "mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process", and said the lawsuit showed "inadequacy as a legal claim" and that it was intended for a "political purpose".

"No reasonable lawyer would have filed it," he said.

The judge ordered Mr Trump and his lawyer, Alina Habba, and her firm, Habba Madaio & Associates, to jointly pay $937,989.39 in fines.

“Mr Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries," the judge wrote in a 46-page order.

Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former FBI Director James Comey and Democratic political consultant John Podesta were among others named in the complaint.

The legal system has a defined way of evaluating what is factual, what is provable, what has merit. It says a lot that time and time again the legal system - despite the personal politics of the lawyers and judges - rules against Trump's claims and tries to call him out on his use of the judicial system to file cases completely without merit. Why does Trump do it? For propaganda.

Trump is highly aware that most people hear the announcement of an investigation or legal filing, and don't stay around to find out the result. He uses that to plant seeds in people's minds. It's a disgusting abuse of the system and it's frustrating how successful it has been for him as a tool for propaganda.

People, as a whole, need to learn that an investigation or the filing of a charge is not smoke indicating a fire.