Sidney Powell must comply with nonmonetary sanctions, court rules

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that Sidney Powell and other attorneys who unsuccessfully sued to block President Biden’s 2020 electoral win in Michigan must comply with nonmonetary sanctions imposed by a federal judge. 

The ruling rebuffed a request from the group of six pro-Trump lawyers who had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to pause enforcement of a Detroit-based federal judge’s sanctions determination ahead of a Friday deadline.  

In a brief order, a three-judge appellate panel blasted the attorneys for failing to seek relief directly from U.S. District Judge Linda Parker, who imposed the penalties in August, and for dragging their feet before filing their 6th Circuit motion.

“They waited more than two months to seek a stay, knowing the February 25 deadline was imminent,” the panel wrote.

Parker’s August ruling ordered the lawyers to complete at least 12 hours of legal education as part of their punishment for filing a lawsuit targeting Michigan’s voting results, which Parker said represented “a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.”

The Michigan-based suit on behalf of Trump accused public officials of illegally manipulating ballots in order to assist Biden in getting elected and sought to decertify Michigan’s vote count.

The attorneys involved in the litigation were also ordered to pay $175,000 in legal fees, though Parker agreed to pause enforcement of the payments while appeals play out. 

Those costs were ordered to be divided equally among the nine sanctioned attorneys, who included Powell and Lin Wood, two of the more prominent promoters of former President Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election results being tainted by widespread voter fraud and irregularities.  

Wood and two other sanctioned attorneys were not parties to the matter that was ruled on Thursday by the 6th Circuit.

Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.