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Judge fines Trump lawyers in Clinton case thrown out in September

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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A federal judge on Thursday fined lawyers for former president Donald Trump more than $66,000 and admonished them for filing frivolous and baseless claims in Trump’s defamation case against Hillary Clinton and her allies, stemming from the 2016 presidential election.

The fines levied by Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, a President Bill Clinton appointee in the Southern District of Florida, include a $50,000 sanction to the court and an additional $16,274.23 payment to one of the 29 defendants in the case, Charles Dolan, for expenses he incurred as a result of the suit, which the judge dismissed in September.

The defamation suit accused 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her allies of harming Trump with an orchestrated plan to spread false information that his campaign colluded with Russia. Middlebrooks, in dismissing the suit in September, had written that there were “glaring structural deficiencies in the plaintiff’s argument.”






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Two of the Trump lawyers — Alina Habba and Peter Ticktin — signaled that they would appeal.
“We attempted to right a wrong, and our reward is a kick in the teeth,” Ticktin said in an email. “Ultimately, this will be decided by a panel of three judges of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, as we believe that the dismissal and the sanctions which followed will ultimately be reversed.”
The other lawyers, Michael T. Madaio and Jamie Alan Sasson, did not immediately respond to email messages from The Post.
The fines are the latest legal setback for Trump. Federal officials are investigating him for taking sensitive government documents after leaving the White House, and officials in Manhattan are scrutinizing the financial records of his sprawling real estate business. Last month a federal judge in a separate case said Trump signed legal documents that he knew included false voter fraud numbers







The fines also come as Republicans and conservative media outlets have openly blamed Trump for Republicans underperforming in Tuesday’s midterm elections, which Trump had hoped would demonstrate his electoral clout ahead of an expected announcement next week that he would run for president in 2024.
In the lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers had inaccurately described Dolan in court papers as a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, a senior official in the Clinton campaign and a close associate and adviser of Clinton. Trump’s lawsuit also accused Dolan, a public relations executive, of helping create a “dossier” of false information intended to smear Trump.
In response, a lawyer for Dolan demanded that his client be removed from the lawsuit, noting in court papers that Dolan did not participate in the creation of the dossier, had never been a chairman of the DNC, and said that his role in the campaign was, as Middlebrooks wrote, “limited to knocking on doors as a volunteer.”







Clinton, through a spokesperson, denied even knowing him, Middlebrooks wrote.
Trump’s lawyers then amended their complaint but did not substantively change their claims about Dolan, the judge wrote. The amended complaint referred to Dolan as a former chairman of a “national Democratic political organization,” and a “senior Clinton campaign official,” Middlebrooks wrote. Criticisms about this amended complaint were “unheeded,” the judge wrote.
In levying the fines against Trump’s lawyers, Middlebrooks cited Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which, the judge wrote, is meant to deter “attorneys and litigants from clogging federal courts with frivolous filings.”

Middlebrooks wrote that penalties under that rule are necessary when a party files a pleading “that has no reasonable factual basis,” is “based on a legal theory that has no reasonable chance of success,” or when a pleading is filed “in bad faith.”

 
Why hasn't this happened more often? I know there have been some punishments, including being disbarred for Rudy Guiliani, but why haven't more of Trump's lawyers been sanctioned? Why is Jenna Ellis unscathed so far?
Habba and Ticktin in Trumpian fashion doubled down. Who is paying for all of this BS? Is the GOP still paying Trump's legal bills? When is Ronna Romney McDaniel going to grow some balls and cut off the money?
 
Why hasn't this happened more often? I know there have been some punishments, including being disbarred for Rudy Guiliani, but why haven't more of Trump's lawyers been sanctioned? Why is Jenna Ellis unscathed so far?
Habba and Ticktin in Trumpian fashion doubled down. Who is paying for all of this BS? Is the GOP still paying Trump's legal bills? When is Ronna Romney McDaniel going to grow some balls and cut off the money?
This is why every state should have Anti-SLAPP statutes.
 
IF the DoJ indicts Trump, I really hope some of these clowns are the ones defending him.
 
A federal judge on Thursday fined lawyers for former president Donald Trump more than $66,000 and admonished them for filing frivolous and baseless claims in Trump’s defamation case against Hillary Clinton and her allies, stemming from the 2016 presidential election.

The fines levied by Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, a President Bill Clinton appointee in the Southern District of Florida, include a $50,000 sanction to the court and an additional $16,274.23 payment to one of the 29 defendants in the case, Charles Dolan, for expenses he incurred as a result of the suit, which the judge dismissed in September.

The defamation suit accused 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her allies of harming Trump with an orchestrated plan to spread false information that his campaign colluded with Russia. Middlebrooks, in dismissing the suit in September, had written that there were “glaring structural deficiencies in the plaintiff’s argument.”






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Two of the Trump lawyers — Alina Habba and Peter Ticktin — signaled that they would appeal.
“We attempted to right a wrong, and our reward is a kick in the teeth,” Ticktin said in an email. “Ultimately, this will be decided by a panel of three judges of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, as we believe that the dismissal and the sanctions which followed will ultimately be reversed.”
The other lawyers, Michael T. Madaio and Jamie Alan Sasson, did not immediately respond to email messages from The Post.
The fines are the latest legal setback for Trump. Federal officials are investigating him for taking sensitive government documents after leaving the White House, and officials in Manhattan are scrutinizing the financial records of his sprawling real estate business. Last month a federal judge in a separate case said Trump signed legal documents that he knew included false voter fraud numbers







The fines also come as Republicans and conservative media outlets have openly blamed Trump for Republicans underperforming in Tuesday’s midterm elections, which Trump had hoped would demonstrate his electoral clout ahead of an expected announcement next week that he would run for president in 2024.
In the lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers had inaccurately described Dolan in court papers as a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, a senior official in the Clinton campaign and a close associate and adviser of Clinton. Trump’s lawsuit also accused Dolan, a public relations executive, of helping create a “dossier” of false information intended to smear Trump.
In response, a lawyer for Dolan demanded that his client be removed from the lawsuit, noting in court papers that Dolan did not participate in the creation of the dossier, had never been a chairman of the DNC, and said that his role in the campaign was, as Middlebrooks wrote, “limited to knocking on doors as a volunteer.”







Clinton, through a spokesperson, denied even knowing him, Middlebrooks wrote.
Trump’s lawyers then amended their complaint but did not substantively change their claims about Dolan, the judge wrote. The amended complaint referred to Dolan as a former chairman of a “national Democratic political organization,” and a “senior Clinton campaign official,” Middlebrooks wrote. Criticisms about this amended complaint were “unheeded,” the judge wrote.
In levying the fines against Trump’s lawyers, Middlebrooks cited Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which, the judge wrote, is meant to deter “attorneys and litigants from clogging federal courts with frivolous filings.”

Middlebrooks wrote that penalties under that rule are necessary when a party files a pleading “that has no reasonable factual basis,” is “based on a legal theory that has no reasonable chance of success,” or when a pleading is filed “in bad faith.”


Now, nearly $1M in fines




 
What a great day for the twice impeached disgraced pos president, over $900,000 fines for him and his attorney.

Even better, today trump dropped his lawsuit against Leticia James the New York Attorney general. He may be stupid, but even he could see the writing on the wall. I assume the right wingers are all asleep today, no responses, excuses.
 
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