President Donald Trump failed to sway a U.S. appeals court to revive a civil lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring to tarnish his 2016 campaign with bogus claims of collusion with Russia.

A three-judge panel of 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday unanimously affirmed the dismissal of the case and upheld almost $1 million in sanctions against the president and his lawyer at the time, Alina Habba, for bringing a “frivolous” lawsuit against his 2016 rival.

Claims by Trump in his 2022 lawsuit are “untimely and otherwise meritless,” the appeals court said in its ruling. Two of the judges on the panel were appointed by Republican presidents, including one by Trump.

The decision is the latest setback for Trump in legal fights against his perceived foes. Earlier this week, a judge threw out criminal charges Trump had demanded against two of his critics, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. And last week, an appeals court affirmed the dismissal of Trump’s defamation suit against CNN over its reporting on his claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

“President Trump continues to fight back against all Democrat-led Witch Hunts, including the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax and the un-Constitutional and un-American weaponization of our justice system by Crooked Joe Biden and his handlers,” his legal team said in a statement. “President Trump will continue to pursue this matter to its just and rightful conclusion.”

The Clinton suit alleged that the former First Lady, the Democratic National Committee and an array of political operatives, lawyers and others violated the federal racketeering law by conspiring to taint Trump’s reputation with claims that his campaign had improper ties to Russia, including those outlined in the so-called Steele dossier.

A federal judge in Florida tossed the case three years ago, calling it an improper political “manifesto” that was intended to harass the defendants. The judge ordered Trump and Habba to pay $937,989 in fees and costs for bringing the suit in “bad faith.”

Habba, who Trump appointed as the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, declined to comment. David Kendall, Clinton’s lawyer, also declined to comment.

“Lawyers have to take some responsibility for ensuring the integrity of our legal system,” George Doumar, who represented longtime Democratic operative Charles Dolan in the case, said in a statement. “This lawsuit is and was from the beginning a frivolous exercise in lawfare, against Hillary Clinton and dozens of other defendants such as Mr. Dolan.”

Dolan, who worked on Clinton’s 2016 campaign, provided information that wound up in the Steele dossier, named for the former British spy who wrote it.

The 11th Circuit decision was handed down just a week after the court held oral arguments in Birmingham, Alabama. At the hearing, Trump’s attorney said the president “is the victim in this case of a continuous pattern of misconduct,” adding that the collusion theories damaged Trump’s brand and forced him to spend millions of dollars defending himself on multiple fronts.

The appellate panel rejected the president’s arguments that the claims were justified and were properly supported in the complaint.

“Many of Trump’s and Habba’s legal arguments were indeed frivolous,” the panel said.

The suit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. He imposed the penalty in January 2023 after concluding Trump was “using the courts as a stage set for political theater and grievance” by bringing the suit. The judge said “no reasonable lawyer would have filed it.”

The case is Trump v. Clinton, 22-13410, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th District.

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