Sidney Powell's Michigan Election Fraud LOLsuit Just Cost Her And Her Buddies $175,000 In Legal Fees
from the cough-up,-hucksters dept
Sidney Powell, the self-proclaimed "Kraken," has managed to turn a bunch of potentially defamatory allegations and unabashed pro-Trump showboating into actual money. I mean, she probably had before this, what with the Trump camp being hip deep in grifters at all times. (And neck deep in people who apparently just love being grifted.)
But this time it's the grifter, alleged defamer, and spectacular flameout being relieved of money. Sidney Powell -- along with several other lawyers who sued over Michigan election results (most notably, fellow grifter L. Lin Wood) -- has already been sanctioned by a federal court. Back in August, Judge Linda Parker ran Powell and her legal arguments through the judicial woodchipper, leaving nothing but minute chunks of election fraud rhetoric and MAGA blood scattered across the 110 pages of masterclass excoriation.
For instance:
It is not acceptable to support a lawsuit with opinions, which counsel herself claims no reasonable person would accept as fact and which were “inexact,” “exaggerate[ed],” and “hyperbole.” Nor is it acceptable to use the federal judiciary as a political forum to satisfy one’s political agenda. Such behavior by an attorney in a court of law has consequences.
And:
Plaintiffs’ counsel did everything in their power to ensure that their bias—that the election was fraudulent, as proclaimed by Former President Trump—was confirmed. Confirmation bias notwithstanding, Plaintiffs’ counsel advanced this lawsuit for an improper purpose and will be held to account for their actions.
And this one sentence summary of L. Lin Wood's post-2016 career:
Wood is not credible.
Powell and her co-counsel were ordered to attend classes on the subject of pleading standards (lol) and election law (LOLOL). They were also referred for investigation, with the possible outcome of being disbarred. On top of that, they were collectively responsible for the legal fees racked up by the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit, which were both forced to respond to Powell's court-based electioneering.
The bill has arrived. First, there's the opinion and order [PDF], which explains the how and why of the amount charged to Powell et al.
The sanctionees complained they were being double and triple-charged, arguing the expenses claimed by both Michigan and Detroit were unreasonably large. The court (Judge Linda Parker again) points out the expenses incurred are the fault of the failed plaintiffs, who couldn't be bothered to make a concise argument, much less a coherent one.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys identify only four instances where the billing records of the City’s attorneys reflect duplicative efforts: (i) review of the Complaint by four attorneys; (ii) review of the Amended Complaint by three attorneys; (iii) reviewing and revising the City’s Supplemental Brief in Support of Sanctions by two attorneys; and (iv) reviewing and preparing the City’s response to Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ supplemental briefs regarding sanctions. But this was a complex case which, by Plaintiffs’ account, needed to be resolved rapidly.
Plaintiffs’ Complaint, along with attached exhibits, exceeded 800 pages. Their Amended Complaint, with exhibits, exceeded 900 pages. The length of the pleadings alone justifies the contribution of multiple attorneys to sort through Plaintiffs’ allegations. Moreover, all attorneys defending a case need to be familiar with the pleadings to adequately assist in the litigation. It was not unreasonable, particularly given the complexity and significance of the litigation, for more than one attorney to prepare and draft briefs.
If you had just stopped emptying the clip into your own foot, you might have been able to stop the bleeding, the court reminds Powell and her co-conspiracy theorists.
Nor does the Court find the 114.25 hours billed by the City from the date of the hearing to August 4 excessive. Ms. Newman attributes all of these hours to the City’s preparation of its supplemental briefs. Again, the docket reflects more activity after the hearing than that. For example, Plaintiffs’ attorney L. Lin Wood had posted a video from the hearing on social media in violation of the Court’s local rules, leading to the filing of an emergency motion and a show cause order issued by the Court. Plaintiffs’ attorneys filed an emergency motion asking the Court to publicly release the video. Moreover, Plaintiffs’ attorneys raised many arguments for the first time at the July 12 hearing in response to the motions for sanctions, many of which related to the City’s Rule 11 motion, not the State Defendants’ motion. Additional new arguments were made (and even new facts asserted) in Plaintiffs’ counsel’s supplemental briefs. Counsel for the City reasonably had to expend time responding to these new arguments.
1,700 pages in complaints alone adds up to over $175,000 in legal fees. Here's the fee order [PDF]:
IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ counsel, jointly and severally, shall pay attorneys’ fees in the amount of $21,964.75 to Defendants Gretchen Whitmer and Jocelyn Benson;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ counsel, jointly and severally, shall pay attorneys’ fees in the amount of $153,285.62 to Intervenor Defendant City of Detroit.
I don't know what the going rate for bad faith arguments is, but this seems about right. If anything, it's maybe a little low. But it's enough to be a deterrent. Or at least it would be if any of these lawyers had managed to walk away from the Trump presidency without their brains being scrambled by hyper-partisanship. This isn't the end of this either. The Kraken and her crack(ed out) team of co-litigators may still see their law licenses stripped. If nothing else, that will, at least temporarily, keep them from stamping "COMES NOW THE PLAINTIFF" on 800 pages of conspiracy theories and conjecture and heaving it into already backlogged courts.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: election fraud, elections, kraken, lin wood, linda parker, lolsuit, michigan, sidney powell
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I doubt it. Considering that they will find a way to pay for the court fees using the money they grifted from the Trump rubes, no scratch off their backs.
And if they are disbarred, well then they become martyrs and will use that to dupe even more rubes into giving them even more of their hard earned cash.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Words have meanings.
"It is not acceptable to support a lawsuit with opinions, which counsel herself claims no reasonable person would accept as fact and which were “inexact,” “exaggerate[ed],” and “hyperbole.”"
These people are lawyers? and dont get the point that they said something that Insinuated facts as not relevant?
Didnt they do their OWN counting?
How about abit of math?
Out of all of this, It really is sounding like 1 side cheated, and it failed, and NOW they are screaming that the other side cheated?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The judgement is a breath of fresh air, but given this:
A nonprofit led by Sidney Powell raised $14M on election-fraud claims, The Washington Post said.
I'm thinking the fine is the proverbial drop in the bucket, and she has learned nothing. But then I found this in Forbes:
Sidney Powell’s Fundraising Groups Reportedly Subpoenaed As Part Of Criminal Investigation
And I laughed like I was nuts.
These dumb fucks can't even scam the dumber fucks right.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
They complained about attorneys' fees totalling that amount. Holy cow, that's nothing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Judge Dredd
LOL. I love Sleudian Frips.
So is it Judge Linda Parker ( the relative of Spiderman), or Judge Linda Carter (the woman leaving Powell & co wondering)?
Why not both? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgk-lA12FBk
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Words have meanings.
If you are paying attention, those in line with the screaming are getting elected and appointed to election offices, and those who aren't are attacked and threatened until they resign.
2020 may have been a fair and free election. This mistake will not be repeated. The respective offices are being staffed with people willing to at least entertain massive amounts of confirmation bias. Election fraud in favor of Republicans will be considered fair game by voters and officials alike. And it will serve as an excuse not to certify results that still go the wrong way.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
How many more of these fusterclucks are still waiting for sanctions to be assessed?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
But it's enough to be a deterrent. Or at least it would be if any of these lawyers had managed to walk away from the Trump presidency without their brains being scrambled by hyper-partisanship.
Joining the Cult of Trump certainly didn't help their mental stability but I'd argue that more than that the fact that they're playing to the Eternal Victims(tm) crowd is likely to make this sanction no big deal since you can be damn sure that whether it's upheld or not they'll be screeching about how those darn liberal judges have it out for them and they need support from the True 'Muricans who will almost certainly be happy to throw money at them hand over fist.
The problem with sanctions like this is that the legal system is dealing with a group who wants to be slapped down and have 'persecution' baked into their business plans. Being told to pay the other side's legal fees and potentially losing the ability to keep abusing the legal system quite so easily are good steps but deterrents they really aren't.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"Discovery will be fun" - Koby, out_of_the_blue, restless94110
It was, just not in the way they'd hoped.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Money
Why do I feel she'll just pay for it out of her "charity"?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
From this line, you'd think it was a court in North Dakota...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
$14M or15M income and a mere $175K to the Gov't? Admittedly that's more than most billionaires pay in taxes, but that's still a really good return on investment for Powell, et al.
Now, if the DOJ or someone decided the whole $14M are proceeds of crime and seized it, then maybe that might pull the rug out from under the scam.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
"Judge Linda Parker ran Powell and her legal arguments through the judicial woodchipper, ...
From this line, you'd think it was a court in North Dakota..."
I guess he should have said James Woodchipper, then you would have known it was in California?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Words have meanings.
And if the massive amounts of election fraud fails, these insurrectionists have shown they're no strangers to using violence to get there.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
"Admittedly that's more than most billionaires pay in taxes, but that's still a really good return on investment for Powell, et al."
Who says crime doesn't pay?
Trump built his whole career on grift and fraud. And became president to top it off. Now he's credibly shooting for a dictatorship.
It's not a wonder he inspired copycats.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A process question that occurs to me - When a judge says "I'm going to refer you to (the bar / grievance commission / disciplinary committee / etc.)" - what typically actually then happens there? Like, does the judge have to go fill out some forms? Does one of their clerks go fill out some forms, or send a copy of the judgement/order or something? Just curious on how it typically works, if anyone can shed some light.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Judge Dredd
But do you love Robert Fripps?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Powell
Dude, why are you sniggering?
So quick to be nasty. That's you.
Sydney may or may not have to pay some outrageous nonsense of a fine or penalty. There are remedies to the corrupt court system that you appear to worship.
Why crow like a peacock on speed? Wtf is wrong with you, dude? If that were your grandma? You'd be dancing on her grave simply because she was looking for some justice. Who cares you yowl! So it's my grandma? I just care that she suffers! Yay! That's America. And that's Tech Dirt.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Powell
Sir, this is an Arby's
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Powell
I thought I very clearly set out why I was sniggering. I'll try to do better in the future.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Now what would be the standard Trump Republican response again? What did you guys call it? Oh, right - "fuck your feelings".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Judge Dredd
Which time signature would you like to play?
Yes.
Don't forget Robert Fripp and Andy Summers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THB994I6174
[ link to this | view in thread ]
One question
“ “For example, Plaintiffs’ attorney L. Lin Wood had posted a video from the hearing on social media in violation of the Court’s local rules, ”
Why are courts so intent on keeping cases from public review? Especially topics of public interest where both parties are known?!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]