Fighting Lawfare

United States Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit

Feehan v Evers

Seventh Circuit Audio and Brief:

Below is an audio recording of Sidney Powell’s oral argument in the Seventh Circuit on May 31, 2023, on behalf of Elector Feehan and his attorneys.

As background, on March 31, 2021, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers sought sanctions against the lawyers that challenged the results of the 2020 election in Wisconsin. Mr. Evers alleged the lawsuit filed was frivolous and baseless. (A link to this lawsuit, Feehan v. Evers, can be found HERE). The district court judge denied the sanctions request on August 24, 2022, for many reasons including lack of jurisdiction to hear the request, a lack of a basis for sanctions under her inherent authority without an evidentiary hearing about a misquote, and a lack of vexatious litigation. (A link to her full order denying sanctions can be reviewed HERE).

Specifically, the district court wrote that “[i]n an abundance of caution, the court notes that if it did have jurisdiction to rule on the motion, it would not have awarded fees under 28 U.S.C. §1927. The court would be hard-pressed to find that the plaintiff unreasonably and vexatiously “multiplied” the litigation; other than the original complaint, the plaintiff filed only eight affirmative pleadings…the court has no basis on which to conclude that the plaintiff was “dilatory” or that he needlessly delayed proceedings; if anything (as the defendant also has argued), the plaintiff was pushing an extremely expedited schedule, which the court and the defendants struggled to accommodate.”

See Order at page 24.

Mr. Evers appealed the court’s denial of sanctions to the Seventh Circuit. While neither party requested oral argument on this issue, the Seventh Circuit scheduled oral argument in person before a three-judge panel.

Ms. Powell traveled to Chicago to present argument to the Seventh Circuit panel on behalf of Elector Feehan and his attorneys a few weeks ago. The audio recording of her argument is provided below. Additionally, a copy of the brief filed on behalf of Elector Feehan and his lawyers is available HERE. Many of the themes and issues discussed in the oral argument are reflected in this brief.