Milwaukee County officials are the latest defendants in Donald Trump’s failed election lawsuit to ask a judge to force the former president and his attorneys to cover their legal fees.
In a filing yesterday, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson and Milwaukee County Elections Director Julietta Henry asked for $65,520 plus any additional fees incurred after April 3 and “any punitive or deterrent sanctions the Court deems appropriate.”
Earlier, Gov. Tony Evers asked the federal court to reimburse taxpayers $145,175 in costs for his private attorneys in the suit. And city officials in Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine are asking for $42,570.
The Milwaukee County filing raises similar issues, arguing Trump’s suit was baseless. The Milwaukee County filing also argues “the extraordinary relief that Trump sought — to nullify the election results in Wisconsin — was objectively unreasonable.”
Read the filing here.
Meanwhile, La Crosse County GOP Chair Bill Feehan is urging a separate federal court to reject Evers’ request to make him and his attorneys pay $106,780 in legal fees.
In a filing yesterday, Feehan argues the request for fees was filed too late and the court no longer has jurisdiction in the case.
After a federal court rejected Feehan’s case in December, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 1 dismissed the appeal with instructions for the lower court to dismiss the case as moot. The judge followed through on that directive Feb. 15.
Feehan, who was represented by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the suit. The court declined to take it March 1.
In a footnote, Feehan’s attorneys argue that action by the Supreme Court doesn’t impact his argument that the request for fees was filed too late. That’s in part because the request for fees was filed nearly a month after the court’s action.
Read the filing here.
