https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cod.203235/gov.uscourts.cod.203235.136.0.pdf
It's a doozy.
I use the words “vast conspiracy” purposefully. The Complaint is one enormous conspiracy theory... So, this was not a normal case in any sense. Plaintiffs purported to represent 160 million American registered voters and came seeking a determination from a federal court in Colorado that the actions of multiple state legislatures, municipalities, and state courts in the conduct of the 2020 election should be declared legal nullities.... In short, this was no slip-and-fall at the local grocery store. Albeit disorganized and fantastical, the Complaint’s allegations are extraordinarily serious and, if accepted as true by large numbers of people, are the stuff of which violent insurrections are made.
The Complaint did seek, among other things, an injunction barring “any further unconstitutional behavior,” id. at 81, and “permanent injunctive relief to remedy the ongoing effects of Defendants’ unconstitutional conduct.” Id. at 83. But the requested injunctions aside, the main focus of the suit, at least as emphasized by Plaintiffs’ counsel in argument, was a demand for a massive amount of money, likely greater than any money damage award in American history. Seeking a “nominal amount of $1,000 per registered voter,” Plaintiffs asked for a total $160 billion for the putative 160-million person Plaintiff class. Dkt. #1 at 82. This figure is greater than the annual GDP of Hungary.
So, following a lengthy discussion about the sanctioned lawyers' failure to establish any possible basis for legal standing, the magistrate judge said:
In short, Plaintiffs’ counsel in this case did precious little to ensure that they were not part of a immense malignant feedback loop, echoing and repeating election-rigging conspiracy theories from the internet and from other failed lawsuits without any meaningful effort at verification. Mr. Fielder and Mr. Walker apparently spent much of their time signing up new clients and verifying the truth of their affidavits attesting to their distress at the perceived unfairness of the election process. That was a pointless exercise. Affidavits from one hundred fifty new plaintiffs who lacked personal knowledge of any election fraud or conspiracy between Defendants, and who suffered no particularized injury, added nothing to the lawsuit. Mr. Fielder was not relying on his clients for any substantive information or evidence about the allegations in the case. And, as Mr. Fielder has admitted on his website,
http://dominionclassaction.com, and repeated at the sanctions hearing, this lawsuit was his creation and his idea....
The unique circumstances of this case, including the volatile conditions surrounding the 2020 election, the extremely serious and potentially damaging allegations against public servants and private entities, the remarkable request to declare void and ineffective the certification of the electoral votes of several states, along with an extraordinary money demand of $160 billion and the lack of any time pressure, meant that any reasonable pre-filing investigation needed to involve extensive due diligence and the testing of the allegations, including actually talking to human beings, such as the lawyers who filed the failed lawsuits and the experts who submitted affidavits. Under the circumstances of this case, Plaintiffs’ counsel did not fulfill this obligation.
And, finally:
I also find Plaintiffs’ counsel acted in bad faith and attempted to mislead the Court.
It is difficult to look into the mind of a person and determine his motives—what precisely he was thinking. Nevertheless, in this case, I can conclude that Plaintiffs’ counsel acted with objective bad faith in filing this lawsuit and dumping into a public federal court pleading allegations of a RICO conspiracy that were utterly unmerited by any evidence....
The opinion is long but worth a read - you can just feel the judge's deep irritation with these clowns vibrating off the page.
= new reply since forum marked as read
do have to care a little bit about being caught out actively trying to kill our government - just for their own selfish benefit.
