A federal judge on Monday rejected a legal effort from groups of Trump voters to block Congress from officially counting the Electoral College votes and suggested the attorneys involved may be subject to sanctions.
In a seven-page decision, Judge James Boasberg denied the group’s request for a preliminary injunction against Congress and Vice President Pence, in his capacity as president of the Senate, from certifying the results of the election.
“Their failure to make any effort to serve or formally notify any Defendant … renders it difficult to believe that the suit is meant seriously,” the judge wrote. “Courts are not instruments through which parties engage in such gamesmanship or symbolic political gestures. As a result, at the conclusion of this litigation, the Court will determine whether to issue an order to show cause why this matter should not be referred to its Committee on Grievances for potential discipline of Plaintiffs’ counsel.”
“Plaintiffs’ theory that all of these laws are unconstitutional and that the Court should instead require state legislatures themselves to certify every Presidential election lies somewhere between a willful misreading of the Constitution and fantasy,” the judge wrote.