Sidney Powell, then an attorney for President Donald Trump, at a news conference Nov. 19 at the Republican National Committee about lawsuits over the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images file
Those sanctioned include Powell, L Lin Wood and seven other lawyers who were part of the lawsuit filed on behalf of six Republican voters after Joe Biden’s victory. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
A federal judge in Washington has ruled that three civil suits against Donald J. Trump related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol can move forward. The ruling means the plaintiffs could seek information from the former president over his role in the events. Classified information.
Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Nine lawyers allied with Donald Trump were ordered on Thursday to pay Detroit and Michigan a total of $175,000 in sanctions for abusing the court system with a sham lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results.
U.S. District Judge Linda Parker in Detroit held a six-hour hearing Monday by video conference. She said she plans to make a decision about sanctions at a later date. The judge said that the court is "concerned" that affidavits included in the lawsuit "were submitted in bad faith.".
The case appeared to be mostly handled by Detroit-area attorneys. But the lawsuit also carried the names of Powell, Wood and four more lawyers from outside Michigan. The roles of Powell and Wood are unclear; they never filed a formal appearance in the case, according to the docket.
Juli Haller, a former Trump administration official who defended the accused lawyers in court on Monday, said that she was "a little confused by the [judge's] questions because we didn't put forth false documents" and that they "didn't act in bad faith.". There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.