A federal court has shut down a motion to reboot the legal fight over Michigan's 2020 election results. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the appeal filed by a group of attorneys who had previously been sanctioned for their baseless claims challenging the legitimacy of the election. These attorneys, identified as Gregory J. Rohl, Brandon Johnson, Howard Kleinhendler, Sidney Powell, Julia Haller, and Scott Hagerstrom, are also now restricted from submitting any further complaints without the court's green light, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
"Any attorney who knowingly makes false claims in court undermines the rule of law," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said, in a statement obtained by CBS News Detroit. The recent development follows a series of court decisions which include the U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker's sanctions in August 2021, the Sixth Circuit panel's upholding of these sanctions in June 2023, and, the Supreme Court's denial to rehear the case in April 2024.
The sanctioned attorneys have been battling to overturn the results which showed President Biden won Michigan by approximately 150,000 votes, as multiple recounts confirmed. According to an investigation by the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud was found. Nessel, standing firm against the attorneys' persistent attempts to contest the sanctions, is set on recovering the money owed to the state.
Last month, Nessel took a pass on opening a criminal probe into John Poulos, CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, who had faced accusations from some of the plaintiffs, CBS Detroit reported. This decision came after Poulos had provided testimony before the oversight committee in December 2020. Supreme Court previously batted away petitions for certiorari and rehearing filed by the attorneys, consolidating the end of a long and fruitless effort to undermine the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan.
