Trump Is Spared Wisconsin’s Demand for Legal Fees in Vote Case
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump beat back efforts by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and other officials who wanted the ex-president to pay legal fees racked up defending his failed lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election result.
The court lacks jurisdiction over the dispute because the swing state, along with Milwaukee County officials and the mayors of Racine, Kenosha and Green Bay, waited too long to seek legal fees and sanctions against Trump's lawyers, U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig in Milwaukee ruled Monday.
Ludwig, a Trump appointee, said the flaws in Trump's frequently shifting case were “not insignificant failings” and that perhaps the case “ought never to have been filed.” Even so, the judge said he wouldn't have been swayed to award fees even if he did have jurisdiction.
“Ready, fire, aim is not the preferred approach when litigating constitutional claims in federal court,” Ludwig said. “Nevertheless, in the overall context of this case, the court is unable to conclude that counsel's conduct multiplied these proceedings in an objectively unreasonable and vexatious manner sufficient to warrant a fee award.”
The clash is part of the legal fallout from dozens of failed lawsuits by Trump and his supporters alleging his loss to President Joe Biden was the result of massive voter fraud. Earlier this month, former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell and other lawyers who sued to overturn the election result in Michigan were ordered to pay the state and the city of Detroit $175,250 for abusing the legal system with unfounded conspiracy theories.
Read More: Election Challenge Lawyers Blamed for Fomenting UnrestÂ
The governor's press office didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Evers, a Democrat, argued in August that Trump should personally have to pay at least a portion of Wisconsin's legal fees for filing the failed lawsuit -- not just his lawyers.
“These decisions have made clear that the conduct of Trump and his counsel here crossed the line,” Evers said in a court filing at the time, making a last-ditch argument to reimburse taxpayers.
Trump's lawyer in the case, William Bock, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
-
Talking Points This Week: AI Cash Burn, A Tiger Comeback And An India That Still Finds Its Own Path
India is not immune to higher oil or tighter global liquidity, yet its earnings base is broader, its domestic policy levers are still available.
-
Foreign Investors Own Half Of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. An LTCG Cut Could Matter Most Here
Foreign portfolio investors have US$115 billion parked in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank. If the government cuts long-term capital gains tax, Jefferies says returning foreign money could land here first.
