Attorneys point to Trump’s fraud claims in making case for avoiding sanctions
Attorneys who filed a conspiracy-laden lawsuit to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Michigan argue that a federal judge should not impose sanctions because former President Donald Trump believed there was widespread fraud in the election.
In a brief filed Monday, a lawyer representing Trump-aligned attorneys facing possible sanctions and disbarment said that his clients were not alone in believing that the affidavits on which they relied to level their false allegations of fraud were credible.
Trump claimed there was widespread fraud in the election and “millions of other Americans believed those claims — and believed that their president would not intentionally mislead them,” reads the filing from Donald Campbell, a Southfield lawyer representing Sidney Powell and other lawyers facing potential punishment.
U.S. District Judge Linda Parker has not indicated when she might rule on sanctions, but grilled the attorneys during a July 12 hearing that lasted roughly six hours.
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During that hearing, Parker said she was concerned that the attorneys submitted affidavits that indicated problems with the election.
Their lawsuit relied on affidavits full of errors and wildly inaccurate claims to support their lawsuit’s false allegations that the Nov. 3 election was rife with fraud.
“I think it’s wrong for an affidavit to be submitted in support … if there’s been no kind of minimal vetting,” Parker said.
Campbell pushed back against the charge in the Monday filing, suggesting that the volume of affidavits and work that went into them reflected due diligence on the part of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit.
“The immense work reflected in those affidavits and expert reports and counsel’s testimony at the hearing demonstrated that the complaint was not baseless and that counsel conducted a reasonable and competent inquiry before filing it,” Campbell wrote.
But he conceded that the attorneys’ own biases may have played a role in reviewing election fraud claims. Attorneys have a responsibility to “view evidence with a level of professional skepticism,” Campbell wrote. “But no one is immune to confirmation bias.”
The attorneys “didn’t just have suspicions based merely on their own beliefs,” Campbell continued. “They had evidence that those working at the highest levels of the United States government shared their suspicions.”
That alone makes the case “exceptional” and justifies denying the requests for sanctions, Campbell argued.
The brief on behalf of Powell and attorneys Gregory Rohl, Brandon Johnson, Howard Kleinhendler, Julia Haller and Scott Hagerstrom asked Parker to deny the requests for sanctions.
Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a motion for sanctions on behalf of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in late January, arguing the lawsuit aimed to sow doubt in the legitimacy of the election and disenfranchise Michigan voters by peddling false information and frivolous legal claims. The motion asked the court to award attorneys’ fees in the amount of $11,071.
The request followed a similar one from the city of Detroit, seeking sanctions against the attorneys. The amount requested would cover the costs incurred by the city in the case and impose an additional financial penalty “sufficient to deter future misconduct.” The city’s motion also asks Parker to refer the attorneys for disbarment proceedings.
Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.
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