Election-denying, pro-Trump lawyer removed from Dominion defamation case in scathing order
A federal judge has issued a blistering order to remove an attorney representing a prominent, election-denying conspiracy theorist accused of defaming a voting machine company with bogus claims about the 2020 election.
In a 62-page order on Tuesday, District Judge Moxila Upadhyaya booted attorney Stefanie Lambert from representing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in the case after she publicly leaked the company’s internal emails.
Dominion Voting Systems sued Byrne for defamation after he repeatedly falsely accused the company of rigging the election against Donald Trump.
Lambert’s “truly egregious misconduct” included “flagrantly and repeatedly” ignoring court orders by publicly disclosing “thousands, if not millions” of internal Dominion documents, according to Judge Upadhyaya in Washington DC.
“Lambert’s actions were intentional and clearly meant to inflict the harm that has resulted,” the judge wrote. “This Court cannot allow such intentional, dangerous, and relentless misconduct to continue.”
Byrne intends to appeal the decision.
Dominion has filed several defamation lawsuits in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, when the company was at the center of false attacks and conspiracy theories alleging that its machines had rigged the outcome against Trump.
Last year, the company reached a $787 million settlement with Fox News that averted one of the biggest-ever defamation trials in American history. Dominion is also seeking millions of dollars from Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and Sydney Powell, in addition to Byrne, for similarly bogus statements about the company’s actions during the 2020 election.
Lambert is also facing criminal charges in two separate cases in Michigan over her alleged role in a