A federal appeals court has upheld a $1 million sanction imposed on President Donald Trump and his former attorney, Alina Habba, for filing what judges described as a “frivolous” lawsuit targeting Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and several other officials. The ruling affirms a lower court’s conclusion that Trump’s sweeping 2022 complaint violated federal court standards and included claims unsupported by law.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 36-page decision outlining its findings. The court noted that Trump’s original lawsuit ran 108 pages before expanding to 193 pages in an amended version. Judges said the complaint attempted to connect a large group of defendants with legal claims through tenuous and legally deficient arguments.
“The district court decided that the amended complaint advanced legal theories foreclosed by precedent ‘that the most basic legal research would have revealed,’” the panel wrote.
Trump and Habba argued on appeal that the relevant case law was unclear or that they were reasonably attempting to extend existing legal interpretations, particularly concerning tolling arguments. The judges rejected that reasoning, stating, “Many of Trump’s and Habba’s legal arguments were indeed frivolous.”
The lawsuit stemmed from Trump’s time out of office after the 2020 election. He filed an extensive racketeering complaint related to the Russia investigation, which had dominated much of his first term. However, the appeals court found that the lower court had ample grounds to issue sanctions and that Trump and Habba engaged in conduct warranting penalties.
“Trump leaves all these frivolous claims behind, making a total of 11 of his 16 claims he does not appeal,” the ruling stated. “Trump and Habba give us no reason to reverse the district court’s ruling that these claims were frivolous.”
Habba, who has since taken a position as interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey, was included in the sanctions for her role in filing and advancing the lawsuit. The court underscored that attorneys are responsible for ensuring that their legal arguments meet basic standards of research and credibility before bringing claims to federal court.
The decision marks another legal setback for Trump as he continues to fight numerous civil and criminal cases. The upheld penalty serves as a reminder, the judges wrote, that federal courts “are not venues for political grievances dressed as legal claims.”
With the sanction now affirmed, Trump and Habba remain jointly responsible for the $1 million penalty, closing the door on their attempt to overturn the lower court’s findings.