Once again, when put to the test, election fraud claims fail spectacularly (mypillow v2.0)

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Yesterday, a federal district court judge dismissed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's counterclaims against election machine manufacturers U.S. Dominion and Smartmatic. The counterclaims were filed in the companies' defamation suit against Lindell, who had accused the firms of stealing the 2020 election with rigged election machines. In addition, Judge Nichols imposed sanctions on Lindell, given the "groundless" and "frivolous" nature of his claims. Last fall, Judge Nichols had also denied Lindell's attempt to dismiss the defamation claims.

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Smartmatic moves to sanction Lindell and his previous counsel under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 for filing a "frivolous case." . . . In particular, Smartmatic argues that Lindell and his counsel should be sanctioned for: (1) "predicat[ing] [Lindell's] claims on allegations that have been disproven by credible, publicly available sources and rejected by other federal district courts," (2) for filing "claims [that] lack a plausible basis in the law," and (3) for "fil[ing] suit to undermine confidence in the 2020 U.S. election." . . . Smartmatic further contends that "Lindell and his counsel must be held jointly and severally liable for the fees Smartmatic has expended defending itself and preparing the instant motion." . . .

The Court will grant Smartmatic's motion in part. The Court agrees with Smartmatic that Lindell has asserted at least some groundless claims. . . . In particular, the Court concludes that at the very least Lindell's claim against Smartmatic under the Support or Advocacy Clause falls on the frivolous side of the line (other claims do too). As a result, the Court orders Lindell and his previous counsel to pay some of the fees and costs Smartmatic has incurred defending itself and moving for sanctions under Rule 11. See Reynolds v. U.S. Capitol Police Bd., 357 F. Supp. 2d 19, 23 (D.D.C. 2004) ("The test under Rule 11 is an objective one: that is, whether a reasonable inquiry would have revealed there was no basis in law or fact for the asserted claim."); . . . But the Court requires additional briefing on the amount of appropriate costs under the circumstances.

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For those who care about such things, Judge Nichols clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court and was appointed to the federal bench by Donald Trump in 2019.

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