‘Kraken’ lawyers attempt to avoid sanctions by citing Trump’s claim of election fraud: report

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According to a report from Forbes, lawyers who brought lawsuits attacking the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan by alleging voter fraud are attempting to use Donald Trump’s words to avoid sanctions.

On the evening before House select committee opens hearings into the Jan 6th Capitol riot that was inspired by accusations that the election was stolen from Trump, the so-called “Kraken” attorneys, including one-time Trump attorney Sidney Powell, made a new filing.

According to the report, the attorney representing the lawyers, Donald Campbell, asserted that, because Donald Trump also made election fraud claims, the attorneys were within their rights to make the same claims. Continue reading.

‘Kraken’ lawyer Sidney Powell gets schooled after claiming ‘hundreds’ of Jan. 6 attackers are in jail

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Sidney Powell revealed Sunday that she will be joining the legal team helping “hundreds” of Jan. 6 attackers who are currently in prison and asked for money to support them.

The problem, however, is that there aren’t “hundreds” of people in jail for the Jan. 6 insurrection. Far from it, in fact. BuzzFeed justice reporter Zoe Tillman explained, there are just 66 in custody, with a few waiting for a detention hearing. A whopping 478 were allowed to go home awaiting trial.

It’s unclear the degree to which Jan. 6 attackers are willing to accept Powell’s help as she failed to win so many lawsuits around the 2020 election for former President Donald Trump. She and ally Lin Wood are both facing sanctions in Michigan for what some said was a reckless filing filled with inaccuracies. Continue reading.

Florida’s top Democrat files complaint against former Trump attorney’s charity

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TALLAHASSEE — Florida Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Friday she is going after a charity run by Sidney Powell, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump who amplified conspiracy theories in the wake of the 2020 election cycle.

Fried’s office alleges that the Powell-run charity, known as Defending the Democracy, did not properly register with the state and has been deceptively soliciting donations on its website, which lists a West Palm Beach address. Fried is currently running for governor in Florida.

The organization was set up under the guise of raising money to fund legal challenges to the results of the 2020 election, which saw a Trump loss spin off a host of conspiracy theories about voter fraud, many of which were started by Powell. She became known for saying she would “release the Kraken” before filing a failed lawsuit to overturn Georgia’s election results. Continue reading.

Michigan Authorities Cite Sidney Powell’s Own Arguments In Disbarment Action

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Sidney Powell’s defense against a $1.3 billion lawsuit over her lies about voter fraud in the 2020 election could come back to bite her.

Powell, a lawyer who supported Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud and filed multiple failed lawsuits across the country seeking to overturn the 2020 election, is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation after she falsely accused the company of conspiring with a dead Venezuelan dictator to rig the election against Trump.

Back in March, Powell argued that Dominion’s lawsuit should be dismissed because “no reasonable person” would believe her lies about voting machine rigging. Continue reading.

Sidney Powell moves to dismiss Dominion lawsuit

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Sidney Powell, the pro-Trump lawyer who spread baseless claims of election fraud, moved Monday to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against her.

What she’s saying: Powell argues in her motion that “no reasonable person” would conclude that her accusations of Dominion’s election-rigging scheme “were truly statements of fact.” 

  • She claims that Dominion conducted a “well-orchestrated public relations campaign to save their business” and that allegations against her are “sparse.”
  • Her legal team also requested that the case be moved from D.C. to Texas if it isn’t tossed out. Continue reading.

‘Kraken’ Sidney Powell loses again as Supreme Court tosses her remaining attempts to overturn vote in Arizona and Wisconsin

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On Monday, BuzzFeed News justice correspondent Zoe Tillman reported that pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell suffered yet another blow, with the Supreme Court tossing her remaining petitions to challenge the results of the election in Arizona and Wisconsin.

Powell was originally cheered on by former President Donald Trump’s allies, with campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis saying she and Rudy Giuliani would “release the kraken” — a term that was swiftly picked up by adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

But Powell’s challenges to election results around the country bungled basic facts, with her at one point apparently believing that Detroit was in Wisconsin. Powell’s antics swiftly embarrassed the Trump team, with Ellis issuing a statement making clear Powell was acting in her own capacity and not on behalf of the campaign. Continue reading.

Dominion Voting tells Facebook, Parler and other social media sites to preserve posts for lawsuits

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SAN FRANCISCO — Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems have asked Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Parler to preserve posts about the company, even if the material was already removed for spreading misinformation.

The posts need to be kept “because they are relevant to Dominion’s defamation claims relating to false accusations that Dominion rigged the 2020 election,” according to the demand letters from Dominion’s law firm Clare Locke. Dominion sued Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sidney Powell for more than $1.3 billion each in January, alleging that the lawyers defamed Dominion by saying the machines were used to steal the election from President Donald Trump.

Dominion asked each company to keep posts from slightly differing lists of people. Those included right-wing pundit Dan Bongino, Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Powell. It also included news organizations Fox News, One America News Network and Newsmax and — in Twitter’s case — Trump. Continue reading.

Smartmatic files $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell

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Voting company Smartmatic on Thursday filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, some of the network’s top hosts, Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell for starting a “disinformation campaign” against the company.

Why it matters: This is the second voting company to file a lawsuit against Giuliani and Powell, following Dominion Voting Systems’ two $1.3 billion defamation lawsuits against the pro-Trump lawyers.

  • Dominion warned Fox News last month that lawsuits were imminent. 
  • In comparison to Dominion, which was used in several states, Smartmatic machines were only used in Los Angeles County. Continue reading.

Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell have disappeared from Fox airwaves

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The Trump-affiliated attorneys were once a regular presence with baseless claims of election fraud. That has changed since a legal pushback from voting-technology companies.

At one point, it was hard for Fox viewers to avoid Rudolph W. Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

For several weeks starting in November, the Trump-associated lawyers were an almost-daily presence on Fox shows, arguing that the president had been robbed of a second term by a fraudulent process that they claimed they would soon have the evidence to reveal.

But Giuliani and Powell have not appeared on any Fox cable news show in more than a month, according to a review by The Washington Post. Giuliani’s last appearance was Dec. 12 and Powell’s was Dec. 10 on “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” a show that was once a regular vehicle for both her and Giuliani. Ellis has appeared only once on the networks since early December. Continue reading.

Dominion sues Sidney Powell for defamation, seeking $1.3 billion in damages

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Dominion Voting Systems on Friday filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $1.3 billion in damages against Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump lawyer who has pushed unfounded conspiracy theories alleging that the company was involved in an international communist plot to rig the election against President Trump.

The big picture: Dominion alleges that Powell acted “in concert with allies and media outlets determined to promote a false preconceived narrative about the 2020 election—caused unprecedented harm.” In an interview with the Axios Re:Cap podcast last week, Dominion CEO John Poulos did not rule out suing Trump himself.

What they’re saying: “As a result of the defamatory falsehoods peddled by Powell … Dominion’s founder, Dominion’s employees, Georgia’s governor, and Georgia’s secretary of state have been harassed and have received death threats, and Dominion has suffered enormous harm,” the lawsuit reads. Continue reading.