Court Upholds $1M Penalty Over 'Frivolous' Trump Lawsuit

A federal appeals court has upheld a nearly $1 million penalty against President Trump and attorney Alina Habba, ruling they engaged in "sanctionable conduct" by pursuing a baseless lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and others.

• The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' unanimous decision, written by Chief Judge William Pryor Jr., found that many of Trump's and Habba's legal arguments were "indeed frivolous." The three-judge panel, made up of judges appointed by Trump, Biden, and George W. Bush, also rejected Trump's attempt to revive his 2022 lawsuit, which accused Clinton, Comey, and others of orchestrating a broad conspiracy to undermine his 2016 campaign with false allegations of ties to Russia, Politico reports.

• Judge Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, noted that the district court had appropriately considered Trump's "pattern of misusing the courts" when deciding to sanction him and Habba.
• The court described Trump's lawsuit as an "abuse of judicial resources." US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks previously ordered Trump and Habba to pay the penalty to cover the legal fees incurred by Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and others in responding to the suit.
• The court's decision marks another setback for Trump's ongoing legal efforts against his political adversaries. It comes just days after a different 11th Circuit panel, which included two Trump appointees, rejected Trump's lawsuit against CNN over its use of the term "Big Lie" to describe his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Politico reports.
• Trump "will continue to pursue this matter to its just and rightful conclusion," a spokesperson for the president's legal team said in a statement to Axios.