Remember when conservatives cried “frivolous lawsuit” over burns an old lady received from McDonald’s coffee? (You dont’ want to see pictures of the burns, trust me.) They accused Stella Liebeck of seeking “jackpot justice.”
Naturally, conservatives are fine with frivolous lawsuits when they go seeking crackpot justice.
And, so another team of lawyers are facing sanctions for filing lawsuits based on Donald Trump’s election fraud lies (Washington Post):
Just before Christmas, two Colorado lawyers filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 160 million American voters, alleging a vast conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election by the voting equipment manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems, Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla Chan and elected officials in four states — and asking for $160 billion in damages.
The case was dismissed in April, but now a federal judge is considering disciplining the lawyers for filing a frivolous claim — sharply questioning the duo in a Friday hearing about whether they had allowed themselves to be used as “a propaganda tool” of former president Donald Trump.
“Did that ever occur to you? That, possibly, [you’re] just repeating stuff the president is lying about?” Federal Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter asked the two lawyers, Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker, during a hearing to consider sanctioning them.
The judge asked if they had considered that they’d been used as “a propaganda tool” by Trump. The pair argued that, no, they really, really did believe Trump’s reelection was stolen in a nationwide election fraud consipracy.
In addition to Team Kraken, that’s two sets of attorneys in a week at risk of losing their law licenses over blind fealty to Trump. More such hearings are on the way, including Wisconsin where Gov. Tony Evers (D) has asked a judge to order Trump to repay the state’s legal expenses from post-election litigation there.
Trump’s former persaonal attorney, Rudy Giuliani has had his New York law license suspended for “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements” and, basically, for being public nuissance.
Legal rules require that attorneys be truthful in court and not clog up the court system with frivolous motions. Lawyers who violate the rules can be required to pay their opponents’ legal fees or can be assessed additional monetary penalties. Judges can also refer them for grievance procedures that can result in disbarment.
I’ll spare you the details from Colorado, except to say that both attorneys said they did it and would do it again. They admitted they had relied on the allegations of Trump’s lawyers and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy.
“These are serious allegations, made by serious people,” Fiedler explained.
But the judge questioned whether, as officers of the court, the lawyers could file a lawsuit based on mere belief of problems. He noted the they had presented “not one iota” of evidence to support claims, for instance, that Dominion’s machines were hacked or that Facebook had manipulated the election via grants donated by Zuckerberg and routed to local officials through a nonprofit group.
Instead, he noted, they provided only sworn statements from people who believed the election was rigged — a belief fueled by Trump’s repeated false claims.
“Many people have been influenced by the outgoing officeholder saying the election was stolen. They sincerely believe everything that is stated by the outgoing officeholder,” Neureiter said. “Of course they’re going to think and feel and have genuine emotions about this. . . . How does that a federal lawsuit make, the fact that the people felt aggrieved somehow?”
Before this is over, one of these clowns is going to turn to a TV camera and say, “Say quick that you believe! If you believe, clap your hands!”