US Judge sanctions pro-Trump lawyers over fraud election lawsuit

A US Judge has slammed nine lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump for abusing the court system with a lawsuit that challenged Michigan's election results in favour of Joe Biden. US district judge Linda Parker on Wednesday said the lawsuit last fall was a sham intended to deceive the court and the public, just a few days after Biden's 154,000-vote victory in the state was certified. “Despite the haze of confusion, commotion and chaos counsel intentionally attempted to create by filing this lawsuit, one thing is perfectly clear: Plaintiffs' attorneys have scorned their oath, flouted the rules, and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary along the way,” Parker said in the opening of a scathing 110-page opinion.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six Republican voters who wanted Parker to decertify Michigan's results and impound voting machines. The judge declined in December, calling the request “stunning in its scope and breathtaking in its reach”. Parker said lawyers for Trump supporters filed affidavits stuffed with sinister “speculation and conjecture” about the vote-counting process without checking for evidence to support the claims. Parker ordered 12 hours of legal education, including six hours in election law, for each attorney. Her decision will also be sent to the states where the lawyers are licensed for possible disciplinary action there. The judge agreed, telling the state and city to tally the costs of defending the lawsuit and submit the figures within 14 days.