A magistrate judge in Colorado federal court has ordered sanctions against a pair of attorneys behind a lawsuit over the 2020 election results, finding the lawyers failed to properly investigate claims of election rigging and that their conduct was particularly dangerous due to the “volatile political atmosphere.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter of the District of Colorado in 2020 quickly rejected the lawsuit from attorneys Gary Fielder and Ernest Walker, which targeted Dominion Voting Systems, Facebook and the Center for Tech and Civic Life and officials in several states, alleging a vast conspiracy over the 2020 election. Lawyers for several of the defendants later sought sanctions over the lawsuit.