Sidney Powell appeals dismissal of lawsuit to overturn Georgia election result

Sidney Powell, an attorney formerly affiliated with the Trump campaign, filed an appeal Tuesday after a federal court dismissed her lawsuit to overturn the Georgia election results.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Judge Timothy Batten dismissed the lawsuit on Monday, prompting Powell to appeal the case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The move follows the dismissal of two similar lawsuits seeking to change election results that showed President-elect Joe Biden defeating President Trump in Georgia.

Like Trump, Powell has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that the presidential election was fraudulent and mishandled.

“They want this court to substitute its judgment for that of 2.5 million Georgia voters who voted for Joe Biden, and this I am unwilling to do,” Batten, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, said in Monday’s court hearing.

He said federal courts overturning the results of an election would be “judicial activism.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Monday recertified the state’s election results, confirming Biden as the winner. Trump had reportedly asked Kemp to persuade state legislators to overturn the results of the election, a request Kemp is said to have refused.

Powell had promised to “release the kraken” in Georgia, referring to the mythological sea monster, the Journal-Constitution reported. Since that statement, her lawsuit has been referred to as the “kraken lawsuit.”

“The claims in the Kraken lawsuit prove to be as mythological as the creature for which they’re named,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). “Georgians can now move forward knowing that their votes, and only their legal votes, were counted accurately, fairly, and reliably.”