KRAKEN IS TOSSED OUT OF COURT

Sidney Powell’s Michigan ‘Kraken’ Suit Slammed by U.S. Judge

 

By Erik Larson and Tina Davis 

 

Bloomberg

December 7, 2020 

 

A federal judge in Michigan denied ex-Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell’s request to decertify the state’s election result and slammed her claims of a vast election-fraud conspiracy as an assault on hard-fought voting rights.

The suit against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is one of those Powell, who is no longer associated with President Donald Trump’s legal team, filed last month and referred to as releasing the Kraken, a mythical sea monster depicted in the 1981 fantasy film “Clash of the Titans.”

Calling Powell’s claims of voting irregularities “an amalgamation of theories, conjecture, and speculation,” U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker said in a ruling on Monday that the suit didn’t put forth the kind of evidence that would justify placing the election results in doubt to allow inspections of voting machines, software and security footage of polling places.

“They seek relief that is stunning in its scope and breathtaking in its reach,” Parker wrote. “If granted, the relief would disenfranchise the votes of the more than 5.5 million Michigan citizens who, with dignity, hope, and a promise of a voice, participated in the 2020 General Election.”

‘Undermining Faith’

The judge added that Powell’s suit, which alleges foreign agents from Iran and China infiltrated voting machines and switched votes from Trump to President-elect Joe Biden with help from “communist money” and hundreds of corrupt Democratic election workers, seemed less about seeking relief in court than undermining “people’s faith in the democratic process and their trust in our government.”

“The people have spoken,” said Parker, a Barack Obama appointee.

Powell didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The decision adds to the long string of legal defeats by the president’s campaign and its allies as they seek to upend the results. Trump lost Michigan by more than 150,000 votes. Georgia officials asked a judge to toss out Powell’s parallel case in that state on Saturday.

Parker ruled Powell had waited much too long to file her Nov. 25 Michigan complaint, noting the suit alleges irregularities existed before Election Day, with some claims about voting-machines dating back more than a decade.

“If Plaintiffs had legitimate concerns about the election machines and software, they could have filed this lawsuit well before the 2020 General Election -- yet they sat back and did nothing,” the judge said. “While plaintiffs delayed, the ballots were cast; the votes were counted; and the results were certified.”

Parker also said Trump voters who claim to have witnessed vote-switching or counting of improper ballots by poll workers and whose affidavits Powell submitted as evidence used words like “believe” and “may” to equivocate.

“A belief is not evidence,” the judge said.