Wisconsin Judge Scoffs at Ex-Trump Lawyer’s Bid for Quick Ruling

(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge in Milwaukee rejected an effort by Sidney Powell, a former campaign attorney for President Donald Trump, to get a quick ruling on her request for a preliminary injunction that would decertify Wisconsin’s election result from November.

Powell, who claims Democrats stole the election using corrupted voting machines linked to communists, argued a final ruling is required by the Dec. 8 “safe harbor” deadline for states to choose electors to the Electoral College. But U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper ruled Friday that only state courts are bound by the safe harbor, while federal courts can resolve election disputes up until the Electoral College vote on Dec. 14.

In her Dec. 1 lawsuit, Powell asked for a ruling by the evening of Dec. 6 to give her one full day to appeal a potential loss before the deadline. She filed the suit on behalf of would-be Republican elector William Feehan and GOP congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden, though the latter has said on social media that his name was used in the suit without permission.

“The plaintiff has not explained why it is necessary for this federal court to grant or deny the injunctive relief” being sought before “the safe harbor deadline for state courts to resolve alleged violations” of state law, Pepper wrote in her ruling.

In an email, Powell said she isn’t deterred by the judge’s timeline.

“This is a major fraud case -- like those we will be bringing in even more states,” Powell said. “We intend to set aside all fraudulent election returns across the country regardless of the ‘safe harbor’ provisions.”

The injunction would also block Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers from transmitting certified results to the Electoral College, force the state to hand over security camera footage for voting facilities and allow for the seizure of voting machines, ballots and other election materials, according to the ruling.

Powell, who was dropped from the Trump campaign’s team after a widely panned press conference about the alleged conspiracy, has attracted attention for frequent misspellings and errors in her court documents, including one that alleged serious voter fraud in Edison County, Michigan, which doesn’t exist.

The Milwaukee judge noted in her ruling that Powell had made an error in her filing to appear in court.

“The document is blank (except for the designation of the court); the court does not have a completed notice of appearance on file for Attorney Powell,” Pepper said.

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