Judge hits Trump lawyers with $50,000 fines over tossed Clinton lawsuit

• Middlebrooks also said the attorneys, led by Peter Ticktin and Alina Habba, must pay $16,274.23 in legal fees to Charles Dolan, one of those named as defendants in the dismissed lawsuit, which Trump is appealing.
• Dolan had initiated the sanctions proceedings against the pair and fellow Trump attorneys Michael Madaio and Jamie Alan Sasson.

What they're saying: "These were political grievances masquerading as legal claims," said Middlebrooks, who was appointed by former President Clinton of the Trump lawsuit he dismissed in September.

• "This cannot be attributed to incompetent lawyering. It was a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda."
• Middlebrooks called their lawsuit a "two-hundred page political manifesto" that "contained factual allegations that were either knowingly false or made in reckless disregard for the truth."

What we're watching: Habba told the New York Times she intended to appeal the judge's decision.

• The attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.