An appeals court in Texas has upheld a ruling in favor of Sidney Powell, an embattled attorney aligned with former President Donald Trump. According to CNN, “Powell stands out as a Trump-aligned attorney who has so far been able to defeat the professional misconduct allegations that have been brought against several others who assisted Trump in his schemes to overturn his 2020 electoral loss. However, Powell did plead guilty in the criminal prosecution brought by the Fulton County district attorney for the election subversion plots in Georgia.”
“We are troubled by the Bar’s implicit suggestion that application of the ordinary meaning of the term dishonesty means the [disciplinary rule] encompasses imprecise pleadings and carelessly filed exhibits,” said the appeals court. “Regardless of whether the challenged conduct must be knowing, intentional, or otherwise, a question we need not resolve here, it is axiomatic that dishonesty involves some conscious perversion of truth.”
Powell was a key player in spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, and strategizing how to overturn the results. She was at the heart of an illegal effort to breach voting equipment in Coffee County, Georgia, and wanted to be appointed special counsel to investigate election fraud, shut down only when Trump’s other allies persuaded him against the idea.
Other Trump attorneys have faced further legal problems. John Eastman, who wrote the memo outlining how to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence into throwing out the election results, has had his law license suspended and could ultimately face disbarment. He was also charged in the Georgia election case, but has not pleaded guilty as Powell did.
