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The legal assault on democracy will be—barely—punished, after all.

In 2020, attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, among others, brought baseless lawsuits against several states accusing them of election fraud in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Today, it was announced that these pro-Trump lawyers have been ordered to pay $175,250.37 in sanctions in Michigan. A federal judge called their actions a “historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.”

Until a federal judge in Michigan sanctioned Powell and Wood in August, it seemed unlikely that the lawyers would face any repercussions. But now, the attorneys’ misconduct has a number. Powell, Wood, and others owe $21,964.75 to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and $153,285.62 to the city of Detroit.

And, with ethics complaints pending in Arizona and a sanctions request underway in Wisconsin, the Michigan ruling could be just the tip of the iceberg.

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