Left: Then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, right, speaks as then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens during the second presidential debate in St. Louis, Oct. 9, 2016 (Rick T. Wilking/Pool via AP, File). Right: Alina Habba speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York (AP Photo/Evan Vucci).
In a resounding denial, not one judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saw fit to call for a vote on the prospect of giving President Donald Trump a full rehearing in his "frivolous" RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.
"Petition for Rehearing En Banc is denied, no judge in regular active service on the Court having requested that the Court be polled on rehearing en banc," the 11th Circuit said Tuesday in a brief order. "The Petition for Panel Rehearing also is denied."
By "regular active service," the court means U.S. circuit judges who have not taken senior status, and of those 12 on the court, six were appointed by Trump.
During November oral arguments, a three-judge panel savaged the case for myriad flaws.
Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, poked holes in Trump's bid to revive a lawsuit that accused Democrats and entities of conspiring to bankroll "an unthinkable plot" to tar the 2016 Trump campaign, cloud his first term through "a sinister link" to Russia, and to harm his business interests.
"This is a classic shotgun pleading," Pryor remarked, only scratching the surface of what the district judge said about the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks summarized years ago that "[t]hirty-one individuals and organizations were summoned to court, forced to hire lawyers to defend against frivolous claims" and the "only common thread against them was Mr. Trump's animus."
"Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries," Middlebrooks said. "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."
In short order, the 11th Circuit panel affirmed Middlebrooks' dismissal and the roughly $1 million in sanctions he ordered against Alina Habba, the firm Habba Madaio & Associates, and Trump himself for bringing 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."
Nothing happened Tuesday to disturb those findings.
The denial raises the possibility of Trump seeking review at the U.S. Supreme Court. Law&Crime reached out to Trump attorney Jesse Binnall to inquire about next steps but did not immediately receive a response.
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