Lawyers sanctioned for 'conspiracy theory' election fraud lawsuit (must pay all attorneys fees)

[Nevilledog]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/04/politics/lawyers-colorado-2020-election/index.html


(CNN) — Lawyers who attempted a class action lawsuit claiming voter fraud in the 2020 election were sanctioned by a federal judge in Colorado on Wednesday for the frivolous, meritless case, a major condemnation of pro-Donald Trump allies' attempts to use the courts to vet right-wing conspiracies.

The attorneys -- Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker -- that filed the election lawsuit in late December 2020 in Colorado federal court now must pay attorneys fees for Facebook, Dominion Voting Systems, the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin, and the non-profit Center for Tech and Civic Life, all of which were named as defendants in the lawsuit, Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter ruled.

Neureiter wrote a scathing 68-page opinion condemning the post-election lawsuit, calling it an "enormous conspiracy theory" and potentially defamatory. The lawsuit had no lawyers or experts that were able to support the claims, the judge noted.

The ruling on Wednesday marks the first major consequence in federal court to befall lawyers and litigants who pushed President Donald Trump's attempt to undermine the 2020 election result in court.

*snip*


I followed the sanctions hearing, but missed the ruling. This is from August 4th, posting in case others missed it.

[Tomconroy]

1. They must have had so much fun when they filed it!

[Merlot]

3. Now the real fun begins!

Bills from FB, Dominion, etc.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. These idiots need to be disbarred

[Hekate]

10. I truly hope that a whole bunch of disbarments come out of this fiasco

[Arazi]

4. Dammit, fooled me. Thought this was the Kraken team

😂

[BlueJac]

5. K&R

[Deacon Blue]

6. One Question: Are Sanctions Dischargeable?

These guys have just been bankrupted. They cannot be solvent for any appeal, much less to satisfy the order.

So I wonder, are sanctions dischargeable in bankruptcy…?

Financial self-immolation for TFG.

I suppose they could start a Go-Fund me page, or a legal defense fund, but wouldn’t that be taxable income?

OK, two questions 😁.

[Tomconroy]

9. My unreliable legal research indicates

The 9th Circuit held similar sanctions to be dischargeable since they aren't owed to the government.
Tax law is beyond me.

[crickets]

7. Good news! Thanks for this.

Here's hoping it's just the beginning for the various jackasses behind all of the Big Lie lawsuits.

[Hortensis]

8. I really hope they pay most of it themselves, not insurance or RW backers.

Just imagine the big teams of attorneys Facebook would assign to work on this, including all the long hours of tedious meetings while the months passed, not just the time in court. And multiply it by the rest.

[Hekate]

11. I hope they go crawling to Trump & he says he doesn't know who they are