The state bar association claims Sidney Powell filed frivolous lawsuits over the 2020 election and unreasonably delayed resolution of those cases.
DAVID LEE at www.courthousenews.com June 22, 2022
DALLAS (CN) — A Texas judge refused Wednesday to dismiss a disciplinary action by the State Bar of Texas against former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who told the judge she is the victim of a “political hitjob” by Democrats.
Collin County District Judge Andrea Bouressa, a Republican, denied Powell’s motion to dismiss in a bench ruling after an hour-long hearing.
“I cannot conclude the plaintiff’s allegations, if taken as true, do not entitle it to the relief sought,” she said.
The state bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline sued Powell in neighboring Dallas County in March, after receiving 10 separate complaints against her since 2020. The complainants allege Powell committed professional misconduct in contesting the election of President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump.
The bar association claims Powell filed federal lawsuits in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin that were frivolous and violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and five subsections of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. It alleges Powell took positions in the litigation that “unreasonably increased the costs” of the cases and “unreasonably delayed” their resolution, including an alleged failure to drop a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Michigan when “requested relief was moot.”
The state bar further claims Powell submitted a certificate in the case before the Northern District of Georgia that she purported was undated.
Powell’s attorney Bob Holmes told the judge the 10 people who complained about his client “are merely people walking down the street, [they] have nothing to do with the case.”
He further pushed back against the claims Powell unnecessarily increased the cost of litigation in the election fraud cases, arguing she had the right to appeal cases when she was ruled against.
“This case must be dismissed,” Holmes said. “There are no allegations, period. [They] can’t show Mrs. Powell knew or intended to deceive by anything she filed or attached.”