Lawyers Sanctioned Over ‘Fantastical’ Suit Alleging 2020 U.S. Election Was Stolen

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday sanctioned two lawyers who
brought a lawsuit alleging the 2020 presidential election was
stolen from Donald Trump and his supporters, calling their case
“one enormous conspiracy theory.”

“This lawsuit was filed with a woeful lack of investigation,”
U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter said in a lengthy written
decision, which came four months after he dismissed the case.

Neureiter ordered the two lawyers, Gary D. Fielder and Ernest
John Walker, to pay the legal fees incurred by people and entities
they sued, including Facebook Inc (FB.O) and voting machine company
Dominion Voting Systems Inc.

The amount of money the two will need to pay has not yet been
determined by Neureiter, who has asked Dominion and Facebook to
provide documentation about how much they spent.

Fielder, through a representative, declined to comment. Walker
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fielder and Walker, both of Colorado, filed their lawsuit in
December on behalf of 160 million U.S. voters, alleging that
Dominion, Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla
Chan and elected officials in four states conspired to steal the
election — and asking for $160 billion in damages.

In Wednesday’s order, the judge said the lawyers sowed doubt
over President Joe Biden’s victory with no evidence.

“Albeit disorganized and fantastical, the Complaint’s
allegations are extraordinarily serious and, if accepted as true by
large numbers of people, are the stuff of which violent
insurrections are made,” the judge said.

A judge in Detroit last month appeared likely to reprimand
Sidney Powell, a former Trump campaign lawyer, and other attorneys
over a lawsuit they filed in Michigan seeking to overturn Biden’s
election victory in November.

U.S. District Judge Linda Parker suggested the lawyers should
have investigated the claims more carefully before suing.

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday sanctioned two lawyers who
brought a lawsuit alleging the 2020 presidential election was
stolen from Donald Trump and his supporters, calling their case
“one enormous conspiracy theory.”

“This lawsuit was filed with a woeful lack of investigation,”
U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter said in a lengthy written
decision, which came four months after he dismissed the case.

Neureiter ordered the two lawyers, Gary D. Fielder and Ernest
John Walker, to pay the legal fees incurred by people and entities
they sued, including Facebook Inc (FB.O) and voting machine company
Dominion Voting Systems Inc.

The amount of money the two will need to pay has not yet been
determined by Neureiter, who has asked Dominion and Facebook to
provide documentation about how much they spent.

Fielder, through a representative, declined to comment. Walker
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fielder and Walker, both of Colorado, filed their lawsuit in
December on behalf of 160 million U.S. voters, alleging that
Dominion, Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla
Chan and elected officials in four states conspired to steal the
election — and asking for $160 billion in damages.

In Wednesday’s order, the judge said the lawyers sowed doubt
over President Joe Biden’s victory with no evidence.

“Albeit disorganized and fantastical, the Complaint’s
allegations are extraordinarily serious and, if accepted as true by
large numbers of people, are the stuff of which violent
insurrections are made,” the judge said.

A judge in Detroit last month appeared likely to reprimand
Sidney Powell, a former Trump campaign lawyer, and other attorneys
over a lawsuit they filed in Michigan seeking to overturn Biden’s
election victory in November.

U.S. District Judge Linda Parker suggested the lawyers should
have investigated the claims more carefully before suing.