Federal judge slams Trump lawyer for sloppy work in election challenges

Republican attorney Sidney Powell was chastised on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper for her ridiculous motion asking Wisconsin to throw out its 2020 election results.

According to Pepper, Powell's motion was problematic in multiple ways. The judge wrote, "There was no indication that the plaintiffs gave notice to the adverse parties of the morning's motion. There was no affidavit filed with the motion. The complaint is not verified, and there was no certification from counsel about the efforts made to give notice to the adverse parties or why notice should not be required."

Powell has been claiming, without evidence, that President Donald Trump, not President-elect Joe Biden, is the real winner in Wisconsin and that Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud there — and Powell has said the same thing about Georgia and other battleground states.

Pepper complained that a second motion filed by Powell indicated that a first motion was filed accidentally.

The district judge wrote, "This motion indicates that the earlier motion was an inadvertently filed draft and acknowledges that the referenced proposed order had not been attached." And Pepper continued, "Because the afternoon motion indicates that the plaintiffs 'will' provide electronic notice to the adverse parties, the court does not know whether the plaintiffs have yet provided notice to the adverse parties or when they will do so. Until the plaintiffs notify the court that they have provided notice to the adverse parties, the court will not take any action because the motion does not comply with the requirements of Rule 65(b)."

Judge Pepper isn't the only one who has described Powell's work as sloppy and careless. Brad Heath, who reports on criminal justice matters for Reuters, tweeted: