"Every claim was frivolous, most barred by settled, well-established existing law. These were political grievances masquerading as legal claims. This cannot be attributed to incompetent lawyering. It was a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda," US Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote in the filing on Thursday.
Attorneys representing Charles Dolan, a defendant in the lawsuit, argued that the lawsuit made multiple false accusations against him, including that he had a role in the conspiracy related to the Steel dossier.
The court sanctions target Trump's attorneys Alina Habba, Michael T. Madaio, Habba Madaio and Associates, Peter Ticktin, Jamie Alan Sasson, and The Ticktin Law Group.
Middlebrooks said the Trump lawsuit has no reasonable factual basis, has no reasonable chance of success, and was filed in bad faith for an improper purpose. He called it a "two-hundred page political manifesto."
The lawyers and their firms have been ordered to pay $50,000 in penalties to the court and $16,274.23 in legal fees to Dolan.