A federal judge blasted lawyer Stefanie Lambert for “repeated misconduct” while banning her from representing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.
Byrne was sued by Dominion for more than $1.7 billion in 2021, accused of claiming that the company rigged its voting machines in President Joe Biden‘s favor during the 2020 election, part of a conspiracy theory promoted by former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters.
Lambert began representing Byrne in December 2023, a few months after she was separately indicted in Michigan on felony charges of attempting to illegally access voting machines in search of evidence to substantiate Trump’s false claims of a “stolen” election, according to The Washington Post.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya wrote in ruling on Tuesday that Lambert was being removed as Byrne’s counsel because she had “repeatedly shown that she has no regard for orders or her obligations as an attorney” during the case.
Allegations leveled against Lambert include breaching a confidentiality order by giving a sheriff in Michigan protected information from Dominion that she claimed showed Serbian nationals who worked for the company attempted to overturn the 2020 election outcome.
The same information was later shared with the public online. Lambert was also accused of attempting to use the information as evidence in her own, unrelated, criminal trial.
“I have sworn an oath as an attorney to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and I will do just that,” Lambert said in a previous statement to Newsweek. “I will pursue truth and justice on behalf of my clients and country.”
Upadhyaya wrote in her ruling that Lambert had “failed to substantiate any of her conclusory allegations that Dominion’s Litigation Documents contain evidence of national security crimes.”
“Beyond her own speculation, Lambert does not substantiate these legal arguments in any way,” the judge wrote. “In any event, she still fails to offer any legal support for the proposition that, notwithstanding her alleged discovery of criminal activity, she could unilaterally disregard and bypass the Protective Order.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Lambert via email on Tuesday night.
Upadhyaya noted that removing a lawyer was “extraordinary and rarely granted outside of cases involving conflicts of interest” but warranted in Lambert’s case because she “deliberately violated multiple court rules and orders and continues to do so despite having had ample warning of the consequences.”
“Lambert’s repeated misconduct raises the serious concern that she became involved in this litigation for the sheer purpose of gaining access to and publicly sharing Dominion’s protected discovery,” wrote Upadhyaya.
“Lambert’s blatant disregard for this Court and her obligations is unending; her actions have already severely infected this proceeding. There is no doubt that they would continue to do so if she were permitted to remain counsel in this case,” she concluded. “Lambert is immediately disqualified from serving as counsel in this case.”
In comments to The Washington Post, Lambert said that Byrne was planning an “immediate appeal” of Upadhyaya’s decision.
Lambert was arrested in March outside a hearing for the Byrne lawsuit after failing to appear for a hearing in her criminal case, which is set to go to trial in October. She faces additional criminal charges in Michigan in a separate case involving an alleged attempt to illegally access voting machine data.
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