(WWJ) The lawyers who fought to have Donald Trump declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election in Michigan may be writing a pretty big check to state and the City of Detroit.
U.S. District Judge Linda Parker a couple of weeks ago issued sanctions, ordering attorneys aligned with the former president to pay a penalty in the case; saying, essentially, that the lawsuit was a sham.
In court documents filed Wednesday and obtained by WWJ Newsradio 950, a new tally shows legal costs for the state and the city to battle the suit add up to $204,156.
The pro-Trump lawyers filed the suit after Michigan certified Joe Biden's decisive win in the state — alleging fraud, without evidence — and demanding that the state's voting machines be impounded.
In the filing, a partner at the law firm Fink Bressack, which represented Detroit, said it was clear from the beginning that the case, while unsubstantiated, would require immediate attention by senior attorneys, would take a substantial amount of time, and would involve a large volume of work.
Documents show the $204,156 figure is based on a "reduced" rate of $325 per hour for the attorneys, and $75 an hour for law clerks and legal assistants on the case.
Along with the financial burden, Parker also ordered 12 hours of legal education for each of the nine pro-Trump attorneys involved, including six hours of study of election law.
The lawyers who brought the suit now have 14 days to object to the filings.
State officials have said repeatedly that Michigan's election was conducted smoothly, with transparency and without evidence of fraud.
Trump lost the election in Michigan by around 154,000 votes.
