The judge who made the above statement is my pick for Judge of the Year. Here’s why…
New Jersey attorney Alina Habba (pictured) has several videos posted on the website of her law firm, Habba Madaio & Associates, LLP.
This isn’t unusual – attorneys are interviewed on TV and if they like how they look and sound, the video gets uploaded for all to see and admire.
Two of the videos from March 2022 have captions that reference Donald Trump “suing Hilary Clinton” and others over “Russia Hoax,” also known as the “false narrative about Russia collusion”:
Habba, described as “President Trump’s personal counsel,” has plenty to say in both videos about the righteousness of Trump’s lawsuit.
Interestingly, the Habba Madaio website offers no follow-up videos about the outcome of that lawsuit, which was widely covered in recent articles like this:
“In a scathing ruling, a federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered Donald J. Trump and one of his lawyers together to pay nearly a million dollars in sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit against nearly three dozen of Mr. Trump’s perceived political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey.”
Wow! “Nearly a million dollars in sanctions” against Trump and his lawyer?
For a “frivolous lawsuit”?
A judge – finally – is telling it like it is.
And it gets better. Here are quotes from this Washington Post story:
From the judge’s 46-page decision:
Trump is a “prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries…”
“He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions. As such, I find that sanctions should be imposed upon Mr. Trump and his lead counsel, Ms. Habba.”
[The judge] described the legal complaint as “a hodgepodge of disconnected, often immaterial events, followed by an implausible conclusion.”
“The Plaintiff consistently misrepresented and cherry-picked portions of public reports and filings to support a false factual narrative,” Thursday’s judgment found. “It happened too often to be accidental; its purpose was political, not legal.”
Who is this judge, who finally – finally – states just exactly what Trump is, and the damage Trump causes, including diverting “resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm”?
He is U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, Southern District of Florida (pictured). He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1997, so this lawsuit wasn’t his first rodeo.
And – I’m thrilled to say – the judge does not pull his punches:
“Here, we are confronted with a lawsuit that should never have been filed, which was completely frivolous, both factually and legally, and which was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose,” Middlebrooks wrote, decrying what he called “abusive litigation tactics.”
In a blistering judgment, he said the case was “intended for a political purpose” and showed a “continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers,” undermining the rule of law and diverting resources. “No reasonable lawyer would have filed it,” he added.
Now you see why Judge Middlebrooks is my nominee for Judge of the Year.
Let’s revisit that last sentence in the last quote:
“No reasonable lawyer.”
The judge is referring, of course, to Trump’s “personal counsel,” Alina Habba.
Trump, Habba, and the Habba Madaio & Associates law firm are jointly liable for $937,989.39, the court found.
I have every expectation that Trump will tell Habba that since she lost the case, then she is liable for the entire fine.
As for paying Habba for her services, Trump’s failure to pay his attorneys is widely known:
And as for Trump – is he appealing?
Not very…
I Hate Houseguests 