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Hi, #Squidigation fans, Brad has you covered on the latest iteration of Sidney Powell and co putting on their whiteface and red noses and hitting each other with rubber chickens for the amusement of the court.
You may have noticed the courts are not particularly amused https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1334168556389478400
You may have noticed the courts are not particularly amused https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1334168556389478400
But Brad just gave you the toplines. This Order doesn't really hold back. https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wied.92717/gov.uscourts.wied.92717.7.0_1.pdf
Some highlights. First, the background: When our gal Sid filed her Wisconsin Squidlet, she simultaneously filed a motion for injunctive relief.
What did she want in that motion? She didn't say. It was supposed to be listed in an attached order, but, well ... there are now three certainties, apparently: death, taxes, and Sidney Powell making filing mistakes that would embarrass someone trying to litigate without a lawyer
But she didn't just forget to include the attached order or correct the formatting.
Gonna skip a paragraph of the order and get back to it in a sec. Because at 3:15 pm, Sid files a "corrected" motion acknowledging the obvious: "oops, we filed a draft"
Even this was done incompetently; it was filed as a motion to amend or correct a court order
Even this was done incompetently; it was filed as a motion to amend or correct a court order
I'm going to pause here to say something: None of this is normal.
Not the buffoonery, that's normal for Sid. But judges generally do NOT spend paragraphs of their orders writing about the procedural mistakes of counsel, *especially* not filing a withdrawn/corrected pleading or
Not the buffoonery, that's normal for Sid. But judges generally do NOT spend paragraphs of their orders writing about the procedural mistakes of counsel, *especially* not filing a withdrawn/corrected pleading or
identifying the wrong "filing event" in the efiling system (when you file documents in Federal Court, you pick from pre-set lists of different types of motions/filings, and whoever filed the second doc picked the wrong one)
It happens - not often, but it happens. Filing a draft ... doesn't really happen, but there's no reason a judge has to comment on it if they don't want to, and usually a judge will not want to.
Judge Pepper here wanted to.
Judge Pepper here wanted to.
That should tell you something about what the Judiciary thinks about this nonsense, generally. An election challenge that raised real issues wouldn't be getting the same reaction. But the courts are being drafted into a tin-foil hat attack on our country, and they are not pleased
OK, back to the order. The paragraph I skipped? Lays out the rules for what a party needs to do to file a motion for injunctive relief in Federal Court, especially without notice to the other side.
Powell managed to do exactly NONE of the required things
Powell managed to do exactly NONE of the required things
Even in her "corrected motion" Powell only certified that she *would* provide notice, not (as required) that she had already done so
This time, the motion included a proposed order, which included various relief - but not a hearing or an expedited briefing schedule. And, because of that "I will provide notice" language, the motion still didn't comply with the rule so the Court says "I'm not touching this yet"
Also, because you chucklefucks didn't actually ask for an expedited hearing or request a briefing schedule, let alone explain why one was warranted - no, just putting the words "emergency" and "expedited" in your papers isn't enough - the normal schedule applies
And finally, Judge Pepper closes with "if you actually want expedited briefing, call me. With opposing counsel on the line, and ask for a date where you can argue about why I should give it to you"
Y'all, this is a 4 page order that only has that last little paragraph on the 4th page. But it is dripping with (justified) contempt for Powell, who keeps hitting what we'd think would be professional rock bottom and then calling for jackhammers so she can keep going down
If I got an order like this issued in a case I was on I'd seriously contemplate my life choices and potentially turning in my bar card. I *definitely* would advise my client to find new counsel unhated by the judge.
Powell doesn't have the capacity for that kind of introspection
Powell doesn't have the capacity for that kind of introspection
BTW, for all you disaster tourists who enjoy this for more than just "finding out what's in the papers" go read Mike's thread on this topic. Same substance, different one-liners https://twitter.com/questauthority/status/1334176874730287108
