A federal judge issued a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump’s lawyers after their failed lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In a court order, Judge James C. D. Middlebrooks slammed the suit for its political motivations, noting that “no reasonable lawyer would have filed it.”
He went on to say that the Trump legal team had “needlessly harmed” 31 individuals and entities in their attempt to “dishonestly advance a political narrative.” Middlebrooks noted that Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba had bragged in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that she had persuaded President Trump to go ahead with the lawsuit despite his own doubts as to its success.
As punishment, Middlebrooks levied sanctions against the Trump lawyers totaling $938,000.
The judge didn’t stop there and went on to expose a pattern of legal malfeasance that Trump and his lawyers commonly play. A pattern that many judges in multiple states have grown weary of.
“This case should never have been brought. 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,” wrote a frustrated Middlebrooks.
“The behavior is not unique, but part of a plan, or at least a playbook,” the judge continued.
The patterns common to frivolous Trump lawsuits include “provocative and boastful rhetoric”; “a political narrative carried over from rallies”; “attacks on political opponents and the news media”; “disregard for legal principles and precedent”; and “fundraising and payments to lawyers from political action committees.
Middlebrooks didn’t stop there, adding, “when a ruling is adverse, accusations of bias on the part of judges — often while the litigation is ongoing.”
Middlebrooks dismissed the suit against Clinton last September.
This is a pattern Americans and judges have witnessed being played out over an over. It is safe to say that both the judges and a growing segment of the American people have had enough. It was one thing when Trump and his lawyers played these legal games in cases involving real estate holdings and other things that didn’t affect America before he became President. Now, people are seeing just how abusive and dangerous these games are when some of the cases can have an adverse effect on America and national security.
If Trump and his lawyers continue to try to run this playbook, they will most likely find themselves being hit with more sanctions and disapproval.
It looks like the dam is starting to break with these shenanigans. This week, Trump was forced to withdraw another frivolous suit against Letitia James in New York. Also in New York, it was revealed that Trump misidentified his sexual assault accuser, E. Jean Carroll as his ex wife, Marla Maples in a deposition a few months ago. That shoots a big hole in his defense that Carroll wasn’t “his type.”
If that wasn’t enough bad news, in the classified documents case, Trump was told he must reveal his secret private investigators identities to the Department of Justice so they can question them and review their work on his behalf.
