Fed judge SANCTIONS TFG attorneys for massive and "frivolous" RICO suit over Russia probe (Twitter)

[zuul]

Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports):

A federal judge SANCTIONS Trump's attorneys — including Alina Habba — for the massive and "frivolous" RICO suit over the Russia probe. Brutal takedown of the "shotgun lawsuit" and "performative litigation," resolving only one sanctions motion.

"Lawyers are enabling this behavior and I am pessimistic that Rule 11 alone can effectively stem this abuse. Aspects may be beyond the purview of the judiciary, requiring attention of the Bar and disciplinary authorities."

Link to tweet

[SheltieLover]

1. Good!

[zuul]

2. $50k in sanctions and fees and costs

$50k in sanctions and fees and costs to a defendant Trump named in his unsuccessful RICO suit against Hillary Clinton

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Hermit-The-Prog]

12. link to pdf from tweet ...

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.610157/gov.uscourts.flsd.610157.284.0_1.pdf

[gratuitous]

3. That there is a public spanking

And the part that should jolt the attorneys is the judge's statement that making these pettifoggers pay money is, in and of itself, insufficient to stop them from clogging the court docket. Heavier sanctions, like those of their State Bar Associations, are in order.

They'll laugh off monetary penalties because their client will just take the money out of the RNC coffers. But bar sanctions aren't so easily shrugged.

[allegorical oracle]

17. My favorite part of the ruling...

“The rule of law is undermined by the toxic combination of political fundraising with legal fees paid by political action committees, reckless and factually untrue statements by lawyers at rallies and in the media, and efforts to advance a political narrative through lawsuits without factual basis or any cognizable legal theory,” wrote US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach, Florida.

[intheflow]

22. Thanks.

I read a truncated version of that excerpt in the Twitter thread. It ended at “political narrative through lawsuits”. The addition of BS legal theory is what gives this quote the chef’s kiss!

[LiberalFighter]

4. Lawyers involved need to be punished with license suspended for at least six months. IMO

[malaise]

5. They should all be disbarred

That is all

[LetMyPeopleVote]

23. The judge in the case didn't just reject the claims, he could barely contain his disgust.

The lawyers in this case deserved to be sanctioned and those sanctions may include disbarment.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/judge-sanctions-trump-lawyers-frivolous-anti-clinton-case-rcna56799?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma

Donald Trump and his lawyers have suffered quite a few defeats of late, and as CNBC reported yesterday, their latest setback will hit their wallets.

A federal judge Thursday sanctioned attorneys for former President Donald Trump to pay $50,000 as penalty for advancing a “frivolous” lawsuit against a raft of Trump’s political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. Judge Donald Middlebrooks’ scathing order in Florida federal court suggested Trump’s lawyers had undermined the rule of law by pushing a political narrative in court “without factual basis or any cognizable legal theory.”

......The judge in the case didn’t just reject the underlying claims, Middlebrooks could barely contain his disgust with the inanity of the legal complaint.

American courtrooms are not supposed to be abused by politicians filing frivolous cases for no reasons. Those who do open themselves up to possible sanctions — and in this case, the district court judge seemed open to that possibility in September......

The penalties were imposed on several Trump lawyers, including Alina Habba. What’s more, the sanctions may not end there: “Additional sanctions may be appropriate,” the judge added in yesterday’s ruling.

[malaise]

24. And rightly so

[Cha]

6. This is what I said a few days ago

when a judge Dismissed a "Frivolous lawsuit".. Why don't those lawyers get penalized and sanctioned?

Really good to see this! TY

[Trueblue1968]

7. TRUMP should be required to pay everyone's attoryney fees

[emulatorloo]

8. Kick/Rec/Bookmarked. So glad the judge saw thru the garbage. And I do hope these

lawyers get punished by the bar.

[2naSalit]

9. Kick their asses all the way...

To a long term prison cell.

[MerryBlooms]

10. r&k Excellent. 🙂

[Justice matters.]

11. Yay! Another day, another bad news for hair furhair!

[Botany]

13. "Every claim was frivolous, most barred by settled and well established existing law."

I am not a lawyer but I think Judge Middlebrooks isn't fucking around.

[Lonestarblue]

14. Trump has been misusing the courts for decades to protect his fraudulent business practices

and more recently his political fraud. Those 60+ election cases he filed were nothing but frivolous lawsuits without any credible evidence. Fines should be much larger, though.

[Stuart G]

15. K and R. Thanks for posting. Trump really has NO CLUE!!

[Hamlette]

16. Trump is going to angry

[NullTuples]

18. He'll blame Melania again.

[NBachers]

19. Where's Judge Cannibal when poor Donnie needs her?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. Judge scorches and sanctions Trump lawyers for lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and Democrats

This lawsuit has been fun to follow. The first and second pleading were basically sad political commentary without any factual basis. The lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired and TFG's defense was that he was too busy being POTUS to file the lawsuit on time. This is for only one of the defendants sued by TFG. Hillary Clinton and others are also seeking attorneys fees and sanctions.

The attorneys who filed this lawsuit need to be disbarred.

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/10/politics/trump-dolan-lawsuit-sanctions/index.html

A federal judge on Thursday ordered sanctions against attorneys for former President Donald Trump in his failed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and numerous others that he claimed conspired to undermine the 2016 presidential election.

Judge Donald Middlebrooks ordered Trump lawyers Alina Habba, Michael Madaio, Peter Ticktin, Jamie Alan Sasson and their law firms to pay $50,000 in penalties to the court and $16,274.23 in legal fees to Charles Dolan, one of more than two dozen people or entities named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Middlebrooks, who previously dismissed the lawsuit, calling it a “two-hundred page political manifesto,” said the attorneys ignored warnings from Dolan, a volunteer on the Clinton campaign, and his attorney that their facts were wrong, including basic information such as where he lived.

“The pleadings in this case contained factual allegations that were either knowingly false or made in reckless disregard for the truth,” Middlebrooks wrote.

“Not just initiated by a shotgun pleading, this was a shotgun lawsuit. Thirty-one individuals and organizations were summoned to court, forced to hire lawyers to defend against frivolous claims,” the judge wrote. “The only common thread against them was Mr. Trump’s animus.”

Middlebrooks added: “Plaintiff deliberately misrepresented public documents by selectively using some portions while omitting other information including findings and conclusions that contradicted his narrative. … It was too frequent to be accidental. Every claim was frivolous, most barred by settled, well-established existing law. These were political grievances masquerading as legal claims.”

TFG filed another lawsuit in Florida state court against NY AG James that is as dumb or maybe even dumber that will also get some attorneys sanctioned and/or disbarred

[LetMyPeopleVote]

21. Hillary Clinton Seeks Sanctions Against Trump and His Lawyers for 'Factually and Legally Defective'

I have been following this case for a while. I read the first pleading and was amazed at how bad it was. Bank in March, it was clear to me that TFG and his attorneys should be sanctioned for filing this piece of crap lawsuit
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216522413

This lawsuit was so bad that it is clear that Clinton and others should be awarded sanctions against TFG and the attorneys who filed this crappy lawsuit.

Link to tweet

https://lawandcrime.com/trump/a-reasonable-attorney-would-never-have-filed-this-suit-hillary-clinton-seeks-sanctions-against-trump-and-his-lawyers-for-factually-and-legally-defective-rico-case/

‘A Reasonable Attorney Would Never Have Filed This Suit’: Hillary Clinton Seeks Sanctions Against Trump and His Lawyers for ‘Factually and Legally Defective’ RICO Case

Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton filed her motion for sanctions against Donald Trump and his lawyers for filing a “factually and legally defective suit,” calling the former president’s failed RICO case a “political stunt.”

The 32-page motion was also filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of John Podesta, Robby Mook, the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Charles Halliday Dolan, Jr. (who previously filed his own motion for sanctions), Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson, Nellie Ohr, Bruce Ohr, Igor Danchenko, and Rodney Joffe. Though Trump alleged each figured in some way into an alleged racketeering plot against his 2016 campaign and presidency, the case went nowhere.

Despite the allegations of a grand conspiracy, U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks dismissed the case “in its entirety” after the various defendants sought that very outcome. Middlebrooks concluded that a federal statute of limitations had passed on claims related to the 2016 election and found the Trump case had little to no merit.

Middlebrooks also retained jurisdiction in the event that the defendants sought sanctions. That time has come, and defendants are seeking north of $1 million dollars in legal fees and costs.

The sanctions filing began by urging Middlebrooks not to waste an opportunity to make Trump and his lawyers pay fees and costs, and be subject to “other relief the Court finds just” for filing a lawsuit that was “unwarranted on the facts, unsupported by the law, and imposed substantial burdens both on Defendants and this Court.”[/d