Nessel files for sanctions against attorneys involved in frivolous election lawsuit
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took action today to hold accountable three Michigan attorneys and one Texas attorney who pursued a frivolous lawsuit in an effort to disenfranchise Michigan’s voters and undermine public trust in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Michigan attorneys Greg Rohl, Scott Hagerstrom and Stefanie Junttila, along with Texas attorney Sidney Powell, pursued this action in violation of their oaths as attorneys, court rules and rules of professional conduct. Nessel today filed a motion for sanctions with federal Judge Linda Parker of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, seeking to recover attorneys fees totaling approximately $11,000. The office is also in the process of evaluating the filing of complaints with the Attorney Grievance Commission of the State of Michigan and the State Bar of Texas, asking that disciplinary action be taken.
“These lawyers must be held accountable for betraying the trust placed in them as members of the bar,” Nessel said. “Lawyers bear a special responsibility to uphold the rule of law, and these lawyers have done the opposite. By pursuing this suit that had no basis in either fact or law, they have only fueled the fire of distrust in our democracy that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. We are asking the court to enforce the rules and hold these lawyers to their oaths for the protection of the public and to restore faith in our system of law – a system they deliberately undermined.”
Court filings in King v. Whitmer, which sought to overturn President Joe Biden’s electoral victory in Michigan, were legally frivolous and supported by false evidence. The court swiftly denied the plaintiffs any relief on numerous grounds. Similar lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona, and all failed. Attorneys Powell and Junttila went so far as to brazenly lie in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that the Michigan Legislature had endorsed competing slates of Republican and Democratic electors, when in reality, the Legislature’s leaders stood by the slate of electors chosen by Michigan’s voters.
Former prosecutor pleads guilty to driving while visibly impaired
Following an incident last year in Lockport Township, former St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough has pleaded guilty to driving while visibly impaired and was sentenced to one year probation.
McDonough appeared last Thursday before Judge Vincent Westra in Kalamazoo County 8th District Court.
McDonough was previously charged by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and having open intoxicants inside a motor vehicle. Those charges have been dropped due to McDonough’s plea.
The original charges stem from a May 11 incident in Lockport Township where McDonough allegedly crossed the centerline, veered off the roadway and crashed into a fence. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene and conducted the investigation. The results of a breath test for McDonough’s blood alcohol content conducted at the time of the incident were .06 and .07 percent.
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