Extract from ABC News
A Florida judge has ordered former US president Donald Trump and one of his attorneys to pay more than $1 million for filing what he says was a bogus lawsuit against Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and others.
Key points:
- A Florida judge accused Donald Trump of a "pattern of abuse of the courts" for filing frivolous lawsuits for political purposes
- Mr Trump had filed suits against Hillary Clinton, former top FBI officials and the Democratic Party
- The ruling requires Mr Trump and his attorney to pay $1.3 million to the defendants in the case
In a blistering filing on Thursday (local time), US District Judge Donald M Middlebrooks accused Mr Trump of a "pattern of abuse of the courts" for filing frivolous lawsuits for political purposes, which he said "undermines the rule of law" and "amounts to obstruction of justice".
"Here, we are confronted with a lawsuit that should never have been filed, which was completely frivolous, both factually and legally, and which was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose," he wrote.
Citing Mr Trump's recent legal action against the Pulitzer Prize board, New York's attorney-general, big tech companies and CNN, he described Mr Trump as "a prolific and sophisticated litigant" who uses the courts "to seek revenge on political adversaries".
"He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process," he wrote.
The ruling required Mr Trump and his attorney, Alina Habba, to pay $1.3 million to the defendants in the case.
A spokesman for Mr Trump and Ms Habba did not immediately respond to requests for comment late on Thursday.
'Implausible' claims made in lawsuit
Judge Middlebrooks in September dismissed the suit Ms Trump had filed against Ms Clinton, former top FBI officials and the Democratic Party, rejecting the former president's claims that they and others conspired to sink his winning presidential campaign by alleging ties to Russia.
The lawsuit had named as defendants Ms Clinton and some of her top advisers, as well as former FBI director James Comey and other FBI officials involved in the investigation into whether Mr Trump's 2016 presidential campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the election.
He said then the suit contained "glaring structural deficiencies" and that many of the "characterisations of events are implausible".
In the wake of the sanctions, Mr Trump on Friday withdrew his lawsuit against New York Attorney-General Letitia James. The case, in federal court in Florida, had also been before Judge Middlebrooks.
Mr Trump sued Ms James in November in response to her lawsuit alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of assets in a practice she dubbed "the art of the steal."
Mr Trump, a Republican, also sought to prevent Ms James, a Democrat, from having any oversight over the family trust that controls his company.
His 35-page complaint rehashed some claims from his previously dismissed lawsuit against Ms James in federal court in New York, irritating Judge Middlebrooks, who wrote in a December order: "This litigation has all the telltale signs of being both vexatious and frivolous."
AP
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