Trump-Backing Lawyer May Face Discipline in Election Case

(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge in Washington dismissed as meritless a lawsuit seeking to block Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory and said he was considering referring the lawyer who brought the case for disciplinary action.

U.S. District Judge Jeb Boasberg said Monday the suit filed by Erick Kaardal, a Minneapolis attorney for the Amistad Project, a conservative group representing voters in the swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, was riddled with errors and allegations based on debunked conspiracy theories.

“Their failure to make any effort to serve or formally notify any Defendant -- even after reminder by the Court in its Minute Order -- renders it difficult to believe that the suit is meant seriously,” Boasberg wrote, adding that he was considering an order that might lead to disciplinary action against Kaardal. “Courts are not instruments through which parties engage in such gamesmanship or symbolic political gestures.”

Kaardal didn’t immediately return an email requesting comment.

Since the election, the Trump campaign and other conservative organizations have filed dozens of failed lawsuits attempting to overturn the results based on debunked conspiracy theories. Boasberg, who was appointed by Barack Obama in 2011, is among the first, if not the first, to threaten to discipline a lawyer who brought one of the suits.

When the litigation has concluded, the judge said, the court would determine whether to issue an order to “show cause why this matter should not be referred to its Committee on Grievances for potential discipline of Plaintiffs’ counsel.”

Under court rules, the Committee on Grievances evaluates allegations of misconduct against lawyers in Washington and makes recommendations to a disciplinary panel consisting of three judges. That panel has the authority to impose a range of sanctions, including censures, suspensions and disbarment.

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