ELECTION LAWSUITS

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says U.S. election lawsuits alleging voter fraud, among other issues, have crossed the line -- and she’s calling for the attorneys behind them to be punished. AdBipartisan officials, election officials and even members of former President Trump’s administration found that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Nessel had previously said she was looking into sanctions against attorneys in the broader election cases. AdRelated: Michigan AG Dana Nessel weighs in on election, Enbridge lawsuits and moreNow-President Joe Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes, beating Trump’s 232. AdMore: Michigan leaders move for sanctions against GOP attorneys in Trump election lawsuitsClick here to view the motion for sanctions filed on behalf of Whitmer and Benson on Thursday, or read it in the document below.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)LANSING, Mich. – Democratic Michigan officials are taking action against attorneys who supported former President Donald Trump and his campaign in their effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Nessel filed a motion for sanctions against Michigan attorneys Greg Rohl, Scott Hagerstrom and Stefanie Junttila and Texas attorney Sidney Powell -- a close Trump ally. Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the motion seeks to recover attorneys fees of about $11,000. Now-President Joe Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes, beating Trump’s 232. AdClick here to view the motion for sanctions filed on behalf of Whitmer and Benson on Thursday, or read it in the document below.

The group says that if the 10-day audit isn’t granted, they will object to the Electoral College votes that have declared Biden the president-elect. Michigan Republicans are joining the last-ditch effort to overturn the election results. More than 100 Republican House members from the so-called Kraken Caucus are also expected to object to the presidential election results next week. This week, Democratic Senator Gary Peters called objections to the election results deliberate attempts to undermine trust in American elections. Trump and his allies have filed roughly 50 lawsuits challenging election results, and nearly all have been dismissed or dropped.

President Donald Trump has once again taken aim at Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Twitter early Sunday morning -- and she was not having it. https://t.co/9OXZOujVtE — Dana Nessel (@dananessel) December 27, 2020“A patriot is a person who vigorously defends their country against its enemies and detractors. You’re not our type.”Nessel followed up with another tweet Sunday, saying she doesn’t expect this behavior from President-elect Joe Biden come his inauguration in January. “We’d be asking there be action taken against her law license including potentially disbarment.”In one of the latest filings, the attorney for Wayne County, Robert Davis, called on the federal judge in Michigan’s Eastern District to sanction the lawyers for six Michigan Trump supporters who are suing Gov. With no credible legal options remaining and the Electoral College having confirmed Biden’s victory earlier this month, Trump is turning his attention to Jan. 6.

Related: AG Barr: No evidence of voter fraud that’d change election outcome“This is how democracies die,” Nessel said Friday. “By virtue of these types of actions, which are unprecedented in American history.”Legal experts don’t believe the high court will hear the case. Despite that, four Michigan GOP congressmen have signed onto the case and 15 GOP state lawmakers. Nessel and the Attorney Generals of the other states have all filed briefs with the high court. Each member who signed their names on their respective briefs also won their own elections in 2020, which they are now asking to be invalidated.

Michigan’s election results faced another round of legal challenges in courts both big and small just four days before the Electoral College is slated to meet and finalize the 2020 election. In the U.S. Supreme Court, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel responded to the state of Texas, which is suing Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia -- three other key states that voted in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. Texas alleged that Michigan broke its own election laws to send absentee ballots to voters during a pandemic, and argued that the court should throw out millions of votes. More: Michigan AG: Texas AG Paxton’s election lawsuit is clear signal request for pardon by TrumpNessel said the claims in the lawsuit are “absurd” and already have been debunked in lower courts. The scheme has been floated and then called for by President Trump, his campaign and his legal team before and after the presidential election in an effort to overturn election results.

Here, Colleen Long, a national reporter in the Washington bureau of The Associated Press who is leading coverage of the legal challenges, breaks down how these lawsuits could affect the presidential election. In Pennsylvania and Michigan, the campaign wanted to temporarily halt vote counting until Republicans got more oversight of the tally. Election law experts and state election officials have overwhelmingly said there has been no sign of widespread or even sporadic voter fraud. Bush v. Gore in 2000 was a good example of how litigation can affect the outcome of an election. No, there were hundreds filed before the election by both sides, and they had to do with changes to how the election was going to work because of the coronavirus pandemic.