Supreme Court rejects appeal from Trump-allied lawyers over 2020 election lawsuit in Michigan

AP
Tue, 20 Feb 2024 07:02 UTC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from Sidney Powell and other lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump over $150,000 in sanctions they were ordered to pay for abusing the court system with a sham lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in Michigan.

The justices did not comment in leaving in place the sanctions against seven lawyers who were part of the lawsuit filed on behalf of six Republican voters after Joe Biden's 154,000-vote victory over Trump in the state.

Among the lawyers is L. Lin Wood, whose name was on the lawsuit. Wood has insisted he had no role other than to tell Powell he would be available if she needed a seasoned litigator.

The money is owed to the state and Detroit, for their costs in defending the lawsuit. The sanctions initially totaled $175,000, but a federal appeals court reduced them by about $25,000.

In October, Powell pleaded guilty to state criminal charges in Georgia over her efforts to overturn Trump's loss in the state. She pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties.

Powell gained notoriety for saying in November 2020 that she would "release the Kraken," invoking a mythical sea monster when talking about a lawsuit she planned to file to challenge the results of the presidential election.

Comment: US Supreme Court turns a deaf ear:

The US District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division largely sided with Whitmer and the defendants, writing, "[Powell's election fraud suit] should never have been filed. The State Defendants and the Intervenor-Defendants should never have had to defend it."

The court assessed both monetary and disciplinary sanctions against Powell and several other members of the Trump legal team.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the district court's sanction. However, the appeals court did remove the sanctions and fees against some members of Trump's legal team and reduced the overall monetary sanctions owed to around $150,000. Powell and several of the attorneys whose sanctions were not reversed filed a petition for certiorari to the US Supreme Court.

In March 2022, the Texas State Bar Association filed a complaint against Powell claiming that she engaged in misconduct by pursuing baseless lawsuits alleging fraud in the 2020 presidential election. In December 2022, Wisconsin's governor also filed sanctions against Powell for similar allegations to those of the Michigan sanctions suit.