Judge sanctions Trump, Habba $938,000 for 'frivolous' Clinton RICO suit

On January 19, 2023, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida ordered Trump and attorney Alina Habba jointly liable for $937,989.39 in sanctions over Trump's dismissed racketeering lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and dozens of other defendants. Middlebrooks wrote that Trump was "a prolific and sophisticated litigant" who was "repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries" and "the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process." The judge said the underlying suit "should never have been brought" because its "inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start." The following day, Trump's lawyers filed a notice voluntarily dismissing a separate Florida suit he had brought against New York Attorney General Letitia James, which had accused James of pursuing "a vendetta" against him.