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6th Circuit ignores rehearing request by election deniers

Attorney Sidney Powell spread baseless election-fraud claims on Fox News after the 2020 election. To back up her claims, she forwarded Fox hosts an email from a source who admitted those claims were "pretty wackadoodle."
Drew Angerer
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Attorney Sidney Powell spread baseless election-fraud claims on Fox News after the 2020 election. To back up her claims, she forwarded Fox hosts an email from a source who admitted those claims were "pretty wackadoodle."

A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider the case of two attorneys accused of making frivolous challenges to presidential election results in Michigan.

Sidney Powell and Lin Wood asked for the full Sixth Circuit U-S Court of Appeals to review a decision issued in June by a three-judge panel. The panel upheld most of the sanctions ordered by a federal district court judge in Detroit.

US Eastern District Court Judge Linda Parker held that accusations of massive election fraud by Powell and Wood were baseless and frivolous and called them “a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.”

In some cases, the attorneys’ own filings refuted their allegations of fraud.

Powell and Wood asked for an “en banc” hearing before the full 6th Circuit to challenge the panel’s decision.

“No judge has requested a vote on the suggestion for rehearing en banc. Therefore the petitions are denied,” read the order entered by Court Clerk Deborah Hunt.

“These sanctions are an important tool in the defense of our democracy, election integrity and our judicial system, and I am grateful the Sixth Circuit judges recognized that,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Last month, Lin surrendered his law license and retired rather than face professional sanctions in Georgia.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.
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