Michigan’s attorney general is saying some lawyers who filed briefs seeking to change election results should be disciplined.
Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said she plans on asking for sanctions against some of the attorneys, including Sidney Powell, who have filed suits with alleged or confirmed links to President Donald Trump’s campaign.
“When we talk about sanctions, she and many of the other lawyers involved in some of these lawsuits on behalf of the Trump campaign have violated rules of professional conduct for every state in the Union, according to the American Bar Association,” Nessel said during a recent appearance on CNN. “So we’d be asking that there be disciplinary action taken against her law license.”
Nessel said she is planning to file complaints with the Attorney Grievance Commission, which is the adjudicative arm of the Michigan Supreme Court. According to the commission’s website, anyone may file a request for an investigation against an attorney licensed by the State Bar of Michigan for alleged misconduct.
Nessel said she’d be asking for court costs and attorney fees in addition to sanctions.
An attorney representing Wayne County resident Robert Davis that same day filed a motion asking for sanctions against the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in King v. Whitmer, which alleged election fraud and asked a judge to order President Donald Trump be declared the winner of Michigan.
“In this case, the Court is compelled to act by sanctioning the egregious conduct of the Plaintiffs and their attorneys for making clearly frivolous arguments and using the judicial system to obtain unprecedented relief, to satisfy Plaintiffs’ selfish and destructive political agendas,” the filing states.
Lawyer Sidney Powell departs a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, on Nov. 19, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
The city of Detroit filed a similar motion. “Plaintiffs and their counsel surely know that this case is built on lie upon lie, each easily disproven by basic objective facts. They know that their so-called experts rely on conspiracy theories to spew obviously flawed conclusions, based on junk science. But they choose to deliberately spread their falsehoods by filing them with this Court and not withdrawing them when given the opportunity,” city lawyers wrote.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs include Powell, Scott Hagerstrom, and Gregory Rohl. None immediately responded to requests for comment.
Powell wrote on Twitter recently that “we are squarely over the target,” alleging hundreds of thousands of fake ballots were cast during the election.
Nessel also singled out Matthew DePerno during a press call on Dec. 22, according to The Detroit News. DePerno is representing William Bailey, an Antrim County voter. He successfully obtained a forensic audit of voting machines in the county. The resulting report on the audit concluded Dominion Voting Systems machines and software are designed to create fraud and influence election results, a charge Dominion has vociferously denied.
“I think we need to go back to a time where you can trust an attorney is making an accurate and truthful representation to the court because if they don’t, then they won’t be able to practice law anymore,” Nessel said.
DePerno noted the remarks on Twitter, using hashtags for fascism and totalitarianism.
Trump weighed in on Sunday: “These lawyers are true patriots who are fighting for the truth and, obviously, getting very close. AG should be sanctioned. Fight on!”
