Federal court denies motion to reopen lawsuit over Michigan's 2020 election results

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(CBS DETROIT) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has denied a motion to reopen a lawsuit challenging Michigan's 2020 election results.

The court denied an appeal filed by attorneys Gregory J. Rohl, Brandon Johnson, Howard Kleinhendler, Sidney Powell, Julia Haller, and Scott Hagerstrom, according to a news release. The attorneys are also barred from filing further complaints unless approved by the court. 

"Any attorney who knowingly makes false claims in court undermines the rule of law," Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. "The attorneys involved in this meritless election lawsuit betrayed their professional obligations, and this stunt is just their latest attempt to evade sanctions they owe the State of Michigan. I'm glad the Court rejected this frivolous attempt to skirt justice."

Nessel said her office will pursue payment of the sanctions that the attorneys owe to the state. This comes after U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker granted the sanctions in August 2021, ruling that the attorneys abused the court system by challenging the state's election results in favor of President Biden.

In June 2023, a panel of the Sixth Circuit upheld the sanction imposed by Parker. Additionally, the Supreme Court denied a rehearing of the sanctions in April 2024.

Multiple recounts in Michigan found that Biden won the election by about 150,000 votes. An investigation by the Senate Oversight Committee found no widespread or systematic fraud.

Last month, Nessel declined to open a criminal investigation into Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos, who testified before the oversight committee in December 2020.

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