Judge sanctions pro-Trump lawyers who brought ‘frivolous’ election fraud lawsuits

Tierney Sneed, CNN

A federal judge ordered sanctions Wednesday for Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and several other lawyers who worked on Trump-aligned lawsuits seeking to challenge the results of the 2020 election.

US District Judge Linda Parker, of the Eastern District of Michigan, said the lawyers had “engaged in litigation practices” that were “abusive and, in turn, sanctionable.”

“Sanctions are required to deter the filing of future frivolous lawsuits designed primarily to spread the narrative that our election processes are rigged and our democratic institutions cannot be trusted,” the judge wrote in a 110-page opinion.

Parker is ordering the lawyers reimburse the attorneys’ fees that the city of Detroit and Michigan state officials paid in seeking the sanctions. The lawyers must also take legal education classes, the judge said, and she is referring her decision to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, and “the appropriate disciplinary authority for the jurisdiction(s) where each attorney is admitted,” for potential disciplinary action.

Powell, Wood and the attorney who was representing them in the sanctions dispute did not immediately respond to emails from CNN requesting comment.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Paula Reid contributed to this story.