Sidney Powell on X:
https://x.com/SidneyPowell1/status/1885409449806094558
Lawyer Sidney Powell for a second time defeated a Texas bar effort to discipline her for trying to change the results of the 2020 presidential election.
None of the misdemeanors for which Powell pleaded guilty in Georgia in 2023 meet the definition of a serious crime under Texas law, chair Bud Kirkendall of the state’s Board of Disciplinary Appeals said Friday. That means Powell isn’t subject to compulsory discipline in Texas, the board decided.
The decision came at the end of a morning hearing in Austin.
Celebrating the victory outside of the courtroom, Powell said the bar’s disciplinary attempt “is the epitome of lawfare that shouldn’t be allowed in this country.”
Powell, a Dallas attorney, said “lawyers have to be able to stand up and represent unpopular cases.”
“For the bar that I’ve devoted more than 45 years of practice to to come against me nonstop for four years now is extremely disheartening and painful and it’s been very expensive and time consuming and unjust.”
Powell said her legal problems crippled her once-successful law practice.
“Nobody’s calling someone who has been besieged as I’ve been,” she said.
Powell’s lawyer, Bob Holmes of Dallas, argued at the hearing that for the bar to bring compulsory discipline the Georgia misdemeanors must be “intentional” or “serious.” They are neither, Holmes argued, rejecting a bar argument that Powell committed a serious crime by stealing voter data.
Powell was sentenced to probation in connection to the plea.
The case was brought by the Texas Chief Disciplinary Council, the state bar’s disciplinary arm, based on Powell’s Georgia guilty plea.
The bar previously sought to discipline Powell independent of the Georgia plea, based on allegedly baseless lawsuits to change the election results. A state appeals court dismissed that attempt in April 2024, holding that the bar presented no evidence that Powell knowingly asserted incorrect facts to prevent the certification of election results in battleground states Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Friday’s ruling is yet another win for Texas Republicans facing legal trouble for challenging the election results.
In December, the Texas Supreme Court tossed an election interference lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R)’s first assistant, Brent Webster. By a 7-2 vote, the high court held that the state bar can’t second-guess Webster’s legal arguments for filing suits challenging the results. The bar later moved to non-suit nearly identical claims against Paxton.
Trump himself avoided trouble from the election after the US Supreme Court in July said former presidents have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during their presidency. That ruling, combined with Trump’s election win in November, prompted special prosecutors to dismiss the case.
The case is In the Matter of Powell, Texas Bd. of Disciplinary Appeals, No. 16209700, 1/31/25.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Autullo in Austin at rautullo@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Patrick L. Gregory at pgregory@bloombergindustry.com
