NEW YORK (AP) – A Florida judge acquitted former President Donald Trump and one of his lawyers on Thursday, ordering them to pay nearly $1 million for filing the suit. he called it a false claim against Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and others.
In a scathing filing, U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks accused Trump of a “pattern of judicial abuse” for filing frivolous lawsuits for political purposes, which he said ” it destroys the law” and “results in obstruction of justice. “
“Here, we are faced with a lawsuit that should not have been filed, which is completely ineffective, both factually and legally, and was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose,” he wrote. this.
Referring to Trump’s recent lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize board, New York Attorney General Letitia James, major technology companies and CNN, he described Trump as a “strong and intelligent person” who uses the courts ” to take revenge on political enemies.”
“He is the master of the use of justice,” he wrote.
The decision required Trump and his attorney, Alina Habba, to pay nearly $938,000 to the defendants in the case.
A spokesman for Trump and Habba did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday.
Middlebrooks in September dismissed a lawsuit filed by Trump against Clinton, a former top FBI official and the Democratic Party, rejecting the former president’s claim that they and others conspired to sink his successful presidential campaign by alleging ties to Russia.
The lawsuit names as defendants Clinton and some of her top advisers, as well as former FBI Director James Comey and other FBI officials involved in the investigation into Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. campaign worked with Russia to influence the outcome of the election.
He said that the suit contains “the use of the system of manipulation” and that many “signs of events are not confirmed.”