Trump drops lawsuit against N.Y. attorney general after judge's rebuke

Former President Trump withdrew his recent pending lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James in a Florida court on Friday.

Driving the news: The move comes the day after the federal judge overseeing the case blasted Trump and his attorneys for a "continuing pattern of misuse of the courts" and ordered them to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions.

• The blistering ruling from District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks came as part of a separate lawsuit that Trump filed against Hillary Clinton.

What they're saying: In the James lawsuit, Trump alleged the New York attorney general abused her position and embarked on a "war of intimidation and harassment" against him.

• Middlebrooks, in Thursday's sanctions order in the Clinton case, said his lawsuits against James, Twitter, and other entities were part of his "pattern of misusing the courts to serve political purposes."
• The judge also said he had previously urged Trump and his lawyers to reconsider James’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit because it had "all the telltale signs of being both vexatious and frivolous.”

The big picture: The former president's lawsuit against James came a little over a month after she filed a civil lawsuit accusing Trump and his family members of financial fraud, and referred them to federal prosecutors and the IRS for criminal investigation.

• The civil lawsuit and referral came as a result of her office's investigation into the Trump Organization's business practices.
• Trump repeatedly attempted to halt that probe by refusing to turn over documents and filing another lawsuit against James in December 2021 that was ultimately dismissed the next year.

Go deeper: Trump, attorneys sanctioned over $937,000 for allegedly abusing court