Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump has a longstanding practice of bringing totally made-up lawsuits to punish people by forcing them to spend money defending themselves. Up until now, he has generally gotten away with it. However, his winning streak may be over. In March 2022, he instructed his then-personal lawyer, Alina Habba, to file a completely bogus lawsuit against Hillary Clinton for racketeering. In Jan. 2023, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks threw it out and slammed Trump for trying to use the courts for revenge against political adversaries. He wrote: "This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim." He ordered Trump and Habba together to come up with $937,989.39 in compensation.
Trump appealed. Now a three-judge panel has unanimously upheld Middlebrooks' ruling. The three judges were appointed by George W. Bush, Joe Biden, and Trump, respectively.
We don't know what Trump will do. Presumably, he will appeal to the Supreme Court. With a bit of luck, it might rule that not only are presidents immune to being criminally indicted, but they are also immune to civil suits and finally are immune to having to pay settlements courts order them to pay. They are truly kings and above the law in every way. That would come in handy for Trump, because the $88 million in judgments against him resulting from the lawsuits E. Jean Carroll brought against him are also on appeal. Of course, there is absolutely nothing in the Constitution putting presidents above either the criminal law or civil law. (V)