Sidney Powell and other lawyers who falsely claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election are now starting to see consequences for pushing the Big Lie. According to the Associated Press: Nine lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump face financial penalties and other sanctions after a judge Wednesday said they had abused the court system with a lawsuit that challenged Michigan’s election results in favor of Joe Biden.
U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said the lawsuit last fall was a sham intended to deceive the court and the public, just a few days after Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state was certified.
Here are a couple of passages from the judge’s scathing 110-page ruling:
“This lawsuit represents a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process. It is one thing to take on the charge of vindicating rights associated with an allegedly fraudulent election. It is another to take on the charge of deceiving a federal court and the American people into believing that rights were infringed, without regard to whether any laws or rights were in fact violated. This is what happened here.”
“Despite the haze of confusion, commotion and chaos counsel intentionally attempted to create by filing this lawsuit, one thing is perfectly clear: Plaintiffs’ attorneys have scorned their oath, flouted the rules, and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary along the way.”
As part of their penalty, the lawyers must reimburse the county for court costs and participate in 12 hours of continuing legal education. The judge is also sending the ruling to the state attorney grievance commission, where an investigation could lead to the disbarment of the attorneys.
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote that it’s rare for lawyers to be publicly sanctioned for abusing the judicial process, “Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and the other lawyers who abused our judicial system to undermine our democracy deserved these sanctions and should receive worse.”
Many of these attorneys may indeed face a rougher road ahead. Powell is one of several people named in defamation lawsuits filed by voting system companies Dominion and Smartmatic. Rudy Giuliani, who has had his law license suspended in New York and Washington, D.C. is also named in the lawsuits.