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A federal choose has ordered former US president Donald Trump and his attorneys to pay greater than $US937,000 ($1.four million) in sanctions for suing former secretary of state Hillary Clinton over claims the 2016 presidential election was rigged.
US District Choose John Middlebrooks, who threw out Mr Trump’s lawsuit in September, stated the sanctions had been warranted as a result of the previous president had exhibited a sample of misusing the courts to additional his political agenda.
“This case ought to by no means have been introduced. Its inadequacy as a authorized declare was evident from the beginning. No cheap lawyer would have filed it. Supposed for a political goal, not one of the counts of the amended criticism acknowledged a cognizable authorized declare,” Choose Middlebrooks wrote within the 45-page written ruling handed down on Thursday.
He known as Mr Trump “a prolific and complex litigant who’s repeatedly utilizing the courts to hunt revenge on political adversaries”.
Representatives for Mr Trump and his lead lawyer within the case, Alina Habba, couldn’t be reached for remark.
Mr Trump sued Ms Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, claiming that she and different Democrats sought to rig that election by falsely accusing his marketing campaign of hyperlinks to Russia.
Choose Middlebrooks, who was appointed to the bench by president Invoice Clinton in 1997, dismissed the case in September, calling the lawsuit “a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances in opposition to those that have opposed him”.
Mr Trump, a Republican, sought re-election in 2020 however was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden, after which he repeatedly made false claims blaming widespread voting fraud for his loss.
He has launched a run for the 2024 presidential election, establishing a possible rematch in opposition to President Biden.
– AAP
