Federal Judge Linda Parker has granted a motion from authorities in Michigan for sanctions against attorneys including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who’ve pushed nonsensical claims about the integrity of last year’s presidential election. In particular, Powell and Wood (alongside others) were involved in a Michigan lawsuit that sought to get Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in the state overturned, despite the fact that no legitimate evidence has emerged at any point to support the idea that Biden’s win was the result of fraud. The newly imposed sanctions are tied to that baseless case.
BREAKING: Federal judge in Michigan sanctions Kraken lawyers Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and others, saying their litigation over Trump's 2020 election defeat amounted to a "historic and profound abuse of the judicial process"
— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) August 25, 2021
Now, besides granting authorities’ request for sanctions against Powell, Wood, and the others, Judge Parker has also referred the matter to outside authorities including the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission for the potential suspension or disbarment of the lawyers. That commission, as its website explains, “is the investigative and prosecutorial arm of the Michigan Supreme Court for allegations of attorney misconduct.” Notably, there’s already a precedent for authorities going through with a suspension from practicing law in connection to election lies. In both New York and Washington, D.C., longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani has been suspended from practicing law in connection to his own promotion of lies about last year’s election. Thus, Powell and Wood apparently have continued reasons to worry.
In the meantime, the sanctions against Powell, Wood, and the others that Parker has granted include a requirement for the lawyers to soon complete non-partisan courses on pleading standards and election law. Those who’ve been sanctioned also must now pay certain legal fees incurred by their opponents. Parker concluded that the behavior of Powell, Wood, and the others in connection with their election litigation constituted a “historic and profound abuse of the judicial process,” as the judge put it. The legal efforts in which they were involved helped provide cover to the Capitol rioters in January, who attacked the Capitol complex under the explicit inspiration of the false claim that last year’s presidential election was somehow rigged for Biden.
As Parker put it, referring to the original case:
‘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.’
Parker also observed that the case brought by Powell, Wood, and the others “was about undermining the People’s faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so.” This “undermining” of collective faith in the democratic process continues via the repeated false claims from Trump and others that last year’s election was somehow stolen.
NEW: Judge Linda Parker has granted Michigan/Detroit’s motion for sanctions against the Kraken lawyers, including referrals for disbarment against Lin Wood, Sidney Powell, etc. https://t.co/MtCd5j6YjM pic.twitter.com/PgAIpt42lQ
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) August 25, 2021
