Trump statement today: Judge fines Trump $1m for ‘frivolous’ Hillary Clinton lawsuit

A federal judge in Florida on Thursday sanctioned former president Donald Trump and his legal team nearly $1m for filing a “frivolous” lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and others.

Mr Trump, in the suit filed against the former Democratic presidential candidate Ms Clinton and others, alleged that they tried to rig the 2016 election by falsely accusing his campaign of links to Russia.

“This case should never have been brought,” wrote Judge Donald M Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida in his order. “Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start.”

President Joe Biden is likely to officially declare himself a candidate for reelection after he delivers his second State of the Union address in February, according to sources familiar with his plans.

On Thursday, CBS News reported that Mr Biden intends to announce his candidacy in the 2024 election but is holding off until his 7 February address to a joint session of Congress, citing his desire to be seen as a working president and not a candidate when he delivers his remarks.

“This has always, always been our plan. State of the Union first, candidate later,” said a source who spoke to CBS News.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

The most far-right House Republicans, early opponents of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and even embattled new Rep. George Santos all are in line for coveted committee assignments. Some are set to serve on the high-profile oversight committee investigating President Joe Biden’s administration.

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona will get to serve on committees now that Republicans have dislodged Democrats from the majority. When Democrats were in charge, both lawmakers were booted from their assignments for being too extreme.

Santos, who has acknowledged lying to New York voters about his past, has picked up two committee assignments.

When Hillary Clinton was running for president, her campaign wanted a gentler way to talk about the criminal investigation into her private email server, so they called it a “security review.”

Now President Joe Biden‘s team is using similar language when talking about the discovery of classified documents in his Delaware home and former office. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, tends to describe the situation as a “review” or a “legal process,” using the term “investigation” much less frequently.

The judge in his 46-page order said Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other defendants, which include dozens of former justice department and FBI officials, was “frivolous” and an abuse of the legal system.

“Here, we are confronted with 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,” US District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote in his order.

“Mr Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries.

“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.”

Former president Donald Trump’s lead counsel in the case, Alina Habba, and another lawyer were asked to pay $50,000 in a penalty to the court and $16,274 in legal fees to one of the defendants.

The lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other defendants was thrown out by the judge, who called the case a “two-hundred-page political manifesto”.

“The pleadings, in this case, contained factual allegations that were either knowingly false or made in reckless disregard for the truth,” wrote Judge Donald Middlebrook in his order.

The man who propped his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk as a mob stormed the halls of Congress has testified in his own defence after facing eight counts, including felony charges, tied to his widely photographed role in the Capitol riots.

Richard “Bigo” Barnett – whose defence attorneys compared him to “everyone’s crazy redneck uncle from out of town” – admitted to the jury on 19 January that he “probably shouldn’t have put my feet on the desk”.

Alex Woodward is following the trial.

A 9/11 survivor has condemned the appointment of Majorie Taylor Greene to a key House security committee – pointing out the Republican congresswoman long denied the attacks happened and instead peddled wild conspiracy theories.

Andrew Buncombe spoke with a woman who escaped from the 80th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

His new book, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, contains several passages in which Mr Pompeo disparages his former colleagues including Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations. Excerpts of the book were obtained by The Guardian ahead of its publication next week.

John Bowden reviewed what he wrote.

The United States hit its debt limit on Thursday, which triggered the US Treasury Department to take “extraordinary measures” to ensure that the country could fulfill its debt obligations.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday warning that her department would begin taking “extraordinary measures”. She told Mr McCarthy that the US will be “unable” to fully invest the portion of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund that is not immediately required to pay beneficiaries.

She also told him that she would begin a “debt suspension period” starting on Sunday and continuing into 5 June 2023.

Eric Garcia has the details.