Nov 26, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Court upholds Trump's nearly $1M penalty for frivolous Clinton suit

Avery Lotz

Donald Trump sits in a courtroom between his two attorneys, Christopher M. Kise and Alina Habba. — Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with attorneys Christopher M. Kise and Alina Habba during his civil fraud trial on Oct. 17, 2023, in New York City. Photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images

A conservative federal appeals court unanimously upheld nearly $1 million in sanctions against President Trump and his former attorney Alina Habba for filing what it called a "frivolous" lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other political enemies.

The big picture: Wednesday's ruling is the latest roadblock in Trump's long-running effort to punish his foes. It's also the president's second loss with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in recent days, after it refused to revive his defamation lawsuit against CNN.

A district court judge tossed and eviscerated the case Trump brought against Hillary Clinton and others, writing in 2023 that it "should never have been filed" and was "in bad faith."

Driving the news: The three-judge panel found the district court did not abuse its discretion in slamming Trump and Habba with sanctions and agreed with the lower court's findings that the president's arguments were deficient.

Chief Judge William Pryor Jr., a George W. Bush appointee, wrote the 36-page opinion joined by Trump-appointee Andrew Brasher and Biden-appointee Embry Kidd.
"President Trump will continue to pursue this matter to its just and rightful conclusion," a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said in a statement provided to Axios.

Context: Habba represented Trump before he was re-elected and appointed her to serve as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

But a federal judge ruled in August that she had been acting as U.S. attorney without legal authority, determining her interim tenure had expired. The DOJ has challenged that decision.

Catch up quick: Trump sued a network of Democrats, former FBI director James Comey and others in March 2022, alleging they "maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative" that he colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks tossed the lawsuit in September of that year, calling it a "two-hundred-page political manifesto."
He later sanctioned Trump, Habba and her law firm to pay $937,989 for filing the frivolous lawsuit.
"Mr. Trump's deliberate use of a frivolous lawsuit for an improper purpose constitutes bad faith," the judge wrote at the time. "And the behavior is not unique, but part of a plan, or at least a playbook."

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

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Court upholds Trump's nearly $1M penalty for frivolous Clinton suit

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