Courts

The Twice-Fired, Lord-Of-The-Rings-Loving Lawyer Is Taking His Show On The Road

Seriously? This guy? AGAIN?!?!

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Paul Davis (Image via Twitter)

Regular readers of Above the Law are very, very familiar with the work of Paul Davis — probably waaaay more than they ever really wanted to be, frankly. But anyway, for the uninitiated, here’s the rundown on the WILD ride that’s been Davis’s 2021 thus far. (If you’re down with what’s been going on, feel free to skip down six graphs.)

So prior to January 6th, Davis was the associate general counsel and head of human resources at Goosehead Insurance. Then he attended the January 6th protest turned attempted coup… and he filmed himself doing so. (Davis maintains he was only peacefully protesting, but his video shows him talking about getting tear gassed and saying he was trying to enter the Capitol building, so…. do with that what you will.) He was pretty quickly fired from Goosehead.

For his next act in the public eye, Davis filed a lawsuit, along with lawyer and failed candidate for the Texas House of Representatives Kellye SoRelle, seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Davis was adamant the lawsuit’s “not a 2020 presidential election fraud lawsuit., and alleged changes to election laws in advance of the 2020 election were in violation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which resulted in civil rights violations. And it asked a federal judge to declare all actions of the new Congress — including certification of Joe Biden’s win and the second impeachment of Donald Trump — invalid.

Then we began the Lord of the Rings phase of the litigation. Oh, you’re not sure why a work of fiction would have a prominent place in a federal lawsuit? Well, that’s why this is so good. Davis filed an amended TRO motion using the  completely fictional experiences of Gondor as precedent. He also made a filing that went after the media for mocking his request to install the government of Middle-Earth in America, which, in turn, only encouraged more ridicule.

Meanwhile the judge has already signaled some deep skepticism. Judge Alan Albright (appointed by Donald Trump, no less) issued an order to show cause, and it’s fair to say he wasn’t impressed by Davis’s legal analysis

But then Davis got fired, again. There was apparently a split amongst the plaintiffs regarding what strategy to pursue (though, tbh, none of them sound like winners). And two camps — the SoRelle plaintiffs and Davis plaintiffs –were born. (Of course, Davis signed that filing with an email address at a domain name he doesn’t own, which is just BEGGING trolls to have fun with you, which, of course, they did.)

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And just this week the fun continued, with Davis filing a motion for legal fees for having to defend himself against allegations of ethical improprieties. He also filed a second lawsuit doubling down on the bizarre legal theories of the original complaint, but with only the Davis plaintiffs attached.

All of which brings us up-to-date on everything Davis has been doing. Now we hear Davis is taking his tall tales about the election to an audience way friendlier to his message than a federal court. Davis will be the featured speaker at Pastor Brandon Burden’s KingdomLife church’s event tonight titled, “How the 2020 Election Was Stolen.”

Burden previously made headlines for telling his congregation to “go to war” over the 2020 election. Oh, dear. And his latest offering is promulgating more of the same lies and falsehoods about how Donald Trump should still be the rightful ruler of Gondor, sorry, the United States.

The promotional materials for the event are out-of-date and woefully misleading. Take a peep:

Paul has now filed a lawsuit known as Latinos for Trump v. Pete Sessions that has the potential to become the largest class-action lawsuit in U.S. history.

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Nope, he was fired by Latinos for Trump and a bunch of other plaintiffs, remember? But he has filed another lawsuit making similar claims.

The lawsuit presents irrefutable evidence that all 50 states’ changes in election procedures for the COVID-19 pandemic violated constitutionally enacted federal election laws, which govern congressional elections.

It does not. Indeed, the TRUMP-APPOINTED federal judge said the claims in the original lawsuit were “without merit.”

A win in this case could rule the 117th Congress as illegitimate, and could result in a temporary restraining order on both Congress and Mr. Biden, thus restraining them from enacting new laws and changes in policy through executive orders that could trigger a new election according to the law and the Constitution.

They will not win. Again, Judge Albright explicitly said “the federal statute under which they seek relief do not permit them to sue Defendants to restrain Defendants from ‘participating in any action relating to the process of electing public officials, holding public office or any official government position, or position in any partisan enterprise related to American politics, and from defaming or threatening or otherwise interfering with the life, liberty, or property of Plaintiffs.'” And HAVA “does not provide the declaratory relief” sought, and “§ 1983, even if used to assert any potential right under HAVA, does not apply to federal officers, such as members of the 117th U.S. Congress, who act under federal law, and thus relief is not available under this statute.”

Let me translate all that from lawyer speak — the case is a stinker. Riling up folks and trying to get them to believe in an alternative version of facts where Joe Biden is not the rightfully elected president and there will be some a new election to unseat him is a special kind of stupid only meant to sow discord and undermine American democracy.

As much as writing about Davis’s doings has become a cottage industry for Above the Law, I can’t wait until it’s over. These bonkers and damaging theories need to stop, the sooner the better.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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