A former Trump campaign attorney had asked the courts to discard the state’s election results–and hand over the power to make a final decision to the Republican-dominated Legislature.
A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s presidential election results, finding the claims riddled with “theories, conjecture and speculation” but little evidence of any actual wrongdoing.
MLive.com reports that the suit was filed last month by Sidney Powell, an attorney who used to work with the Trump campaign. While the campaign has since distanced itself from Powell, she continues to advocate its causes.
Powell had been attempting to not only overturn former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory, but to permit Michigan’s Republican-controlled Legislature to hand the state’s electoral votes over to Trump.
In her decision, U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker opined that Powell and her allies seem to have little basis for bringing a legal case against the state.
“In fact,” Parker wrote, “this lawsuit seems less about achieving the relief Plaintiffs seek—as much of that relief is beyond the power of this Court—and more about the impact of their allegations on People’s faith in the democratic process and their trust in our government.”
“Plaintiffs ask this Court to ignore the orderly statutory scheme established to challenge elections and to ignore the will of millions of voters,” she added. “This the Court cannot, and will not, do.
“The people have spoken,” Parker stated.
Parker’s 36-page judgment noted inconsistencies in the lawsuit. Powell—despite being an attorney—appears to have intentionally avoided making any concrete allegations of voter fraud, instead relying almost entirely on unsubstantiated claims about the voting process’s inherent fairness.
“To be perfectly clear,” Parker observed, “Plaintiffs’ equal protection claim is not supported by any allegation that Defendants’ alleged schemes caused votes for President Trump to be changed to votes for Vice President Biden.”
Parker observed that Powell’s lawsuit frequently used words such “believe” and “may,” rather than terms indicating any degree of certainty.
The Detroit Free Press notes that Powell’s loss is one in a long string of litigatory defeats, both for the Trump campaign and its allies. Ever since Vice President Biden’s win in November, some Trump supporters have taken to claiming that the election was “stolen” by Democrats.
Despite frequently claiming that liberals engaged in or otherwise facilitated voter fraud, there is no evidence that any such wrongdoing actually occurred.
David Fink, an attorney representing the city of Detroit, told the Free Press that the dismissal of Powell’s suit is good news for the United States.
“It’s a good day for democracy,” Fink said, “not such a good day for frivolous Republican lawsuits.”
Fink further suggested that Republican-led lawsuits have been baseless—and should result in some consequence for those continuing to file complaints based entirely atop unsubstantiated claims.
“Once again a challenge to our vote count based upon groundless conspiracy has been rejected in court,” he said. “Every judge who has reviewed these claims brought by Donald Trump and his allies has found them for what they are—frivolous lawsuits intended to undermine faith in our democracy. It’s time for the purveyors of these dangerous lies to be sanctioned by the courts.”
Sources
Federal judge dismisses Sidney Powell lawsuit that sought to overturn Trump loss in Georgia
‘The people have spoken’: Michigan judge rejects lawsuit from disavowed Trump attorney
‘The People Have Spoken’: Sidney Powell’s Michigan Lawsuit Gets Shut Down In Court
Join the conversation!