Trump drops charges against New York Attorney General James

On Friday morning, former President Donald Trump voluntarily dropped a long-running federal lawsuit in Florida against the New York attorney general — a day after the same judge in the case sanctioned him and his lawyer almost $1 million for filing yet another “frivolous” lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and numerous other defendants.

The judge, John Middlebrooks, pointedly noted in a scathing punishment order late Thursday in the Clinton case that he was also dealing with Trump’s complaint against Attorney General Letitia James in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Trump’s lawsuit against James – who Middlebrooks warned last month seemed “vexatious and frivolous” – stems from his own civil lawsuit against Trump in New York state court alleging fraud in his business. James’s spokeswoman, Delaney Kempner, noted that Trump’s dismissal of his lawsuit came the same day his “response to our motion to dismiss this case was due.”

In the Clinton case, Middlebrooks ordered Trump, who is seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and his attorney Alina Habba to pay Clinton and the other defendants approximately $938,0000 for filing the lawsuit the judge had previously rejected.

Trump’s lawsuit had accused Clinton and others, including the Democratic National Committee and various FBI officials, of conspiring to create a false narrative during the 2016 presidential election that his campaign colluded with Russia. .

“We are faced with a legal action that should never have been brought, which was completely frivolous, both factually and legally, and which was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose,” Middlebrooks wrote in his order punishing Trump and Habba with monetary penalties.

Middlebrooks in that order cited Trump’s response in New York court to James’ civil investigation into his company, the Trump Organization, as one of multiple examples of a “pattern of court abuse.” ” by the former Republican. President.

“Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigator who repeatedly uses the courts to exact revenge against political adversaries,” the judge wrote.

“He is the mastermind of the strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be considered a litigant blindly following the advice of an attorney.”

In September, James filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against Trump, his company, three of his adult children and others, alleging widespread fraud involving false financial statements related to company operations.

In November, Trump sued James in Florida state court, alleging she was engaged in a “war of intimidation and harassment” against him. This lawsuit sought to prevent James from obtaining records from a revocable trust he set up in Florida that owns the Trump Organization.

James soon after returned that lawsuit to federal court in Florida, where Middelbrooks was assigned the case.

Middlebrooks, in his order in the Clinton case, noted Thursday that last month he ruled that “Trump’s attempt to circumvent New York court decisions by suing AG James individually rather than in his official capacity was patently frivolous”.

The judge also concluded that Trump had “no likelihood of success on the merits” of the case “and that he urged Trump to consider dropping his opposition to James’ attempt to obtain the case” .

“This dispute [against James] has all the telltale signs of being both vexatious and frivolous,” Middlebrooks wrote last month.

But the judge later wrote, “A decision in Mr. Trump’s Florida lawsuit against the New York Attorney General, a case currently pending before me, is premature.”

A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a question about why the lawsuit against James was voluntarily dismissed.

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