As the holidays begin, let's lift up cups, drumsticks, latte-or all three! — To a magistrate of Colorado named N. Reid Neureiter.

Earlier this week, Neureiter ordered two lawyers to pay nearly $190,000 to the defendants they were targeting. This is an unfounded and irresponsible lawsuit claiming fraud in the November 2020 election-this is A completely honest operation that resulted in the country’s clear and irrefutable defeat in the elections. The 45th president.

It is hoped that the actions of U.S. District Court judges will set a precedent and spread across the country, as former President Trump and his supporters continue to promote rampant voter fraud "big lies" and try to undermine the legitimacy of the current CEO.

It's one thing to sell such lies to deceive donors, save the velvety selves of the former president, or build audiences on Fox News, OAN, or other Trump media. Things are different in court, and it must be.

Column: Debunking Trump's "big lie", scholars and statistics show that the facts are not true

A Stanford University professor and colleague refuted the lie point by point.

Attorneys Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker filed a lawsuit in Denver in December 2020, allegedly representing 160 million American voters, accusing them of conspiracy to steal the 2020 election. They accused Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Mark Zuckerberg) and voting equipment manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems, as well as the favorite target of the tin foil hat crowd. The lawyer is asking for $160 billion in compensation, why not?

The situation is-surprise! -Dismissed in April, but Neureiter did not end the duo. Last summer, he called a lawyer to participate in a hearing to consider possible sanctions. He asked the co-counsel-did former government lawyer Walker think of this; Field, the former local prosecutor-they were used by Trump to spread his selfish propaganda?

According to the Washington Post, Neureiter observed that Trump’s own Attorney General William Barr and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were among the many election monitoring agencies and they found no evidence of widespread fraud or tampering with voting machines. . Neureiter told the lawyers that it should be a "red light" or "at least a flashing yellow light" and that more investigations should be conducted before they file a stupid lawsuit.

But Field said that based on theories put forward by various other lawyers and Trump allies, including the CEO of MyPillow and the fabler Mike Lindell, the two “sincerely” believed that the election was stolen by Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats. .

"These are serious allegations," Field said, "made by serious people."

(When they are doing this, Fielder and his assistant lawyers may refer to Dr. Seuss's work. He has some interesting and authoritative statements about Lorax and Sneetches, which are equally important to their case.)

Neureiter issued a severe condemnation in Monday's ruling, ordering Fielder and Walker to make various payments to Facebook (self-renamed Meta), Dominion Voting Systems and other companies.

The judge wrote: “I believe that this lawsuit is not a lawful use of the legal system to seek remedy for remedial grievances, but is used to manipulate members of the public who are easily deceived and to incite public disturbances.” “In this sense, this The lawsuit is an abuse of the legal system and interference with government agencies. For all these reasons, I think the important sanctions are worthwhile."

Field responded to a statement, calling the judge's decision "unfathomable" and noting that Neureiter's dismissal of the basic case has been appealed.

"We will not stop fighting for the people's right to vote in free and fair presidential elections," Field said. "This is death on the cross."

Column: Kamala Harris, the incredibly disappearing vice president

If Kamala Harris seems to have disappeared, it is because she is doing her job and has not seized the limelight of President Biden.

For the record, many state and federal judges, including some judges appointed by Trump as judges, have dismissed more than 50 baseless lawsuits questioning the election and its results. (In addition to the deception involved, there is such an obvious trivial and time-wasting litigation that blocked a heavily burdened court system. Some civil litigants waited for several years to see the inside of the court.)

In August, a federal judge in Michigan approved Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and other Trump lawyers because they filed one of many specious lawsuits. In addition to charging lawyers’ fees, the judge ordered them to attend electoral law courses and urged their lawyers’ associations to investigate whether they should be suspended or disqualified as lawyers.

Earlier this summer, the New York Supreme Court suspended Rudolph W. Giuliani's legal license because he peddled the former president's excuses.

But Giuliani and other Trump aides have repeatedly stated that they do not care about any remnants of authenticity, integrity, personal dignity, and their tarnished reputation.

For this reason, it is worth paying the price for Neureiter's decision to spread Trump's "big lie". Perhaps the US dollar and US cents will act as a deterrent.

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Mark Z. Barabak is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, focusing on politics in California and the West. As a journalist for nearly 45 years, Barabac has covered campaigns and elections in 49 of the 50 states, including 11 presidential campaigns and dozens of campaigns for mayors, governors, Congress, and the U.S. Senate. During the George HW Bush and Clinton administrations, he also reported on the White House and Capitol Hill.

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