Pro-Trump lawyer apprehended following court session on leaked Dominion emails

A lawyer who supported Trump and attempted to change the 2020 election results was taken into custody on Monday following a court session discussing her disclosure of internal emails from Dominion Voting Systems.

The lawyer, Stefanie Lambert, already had an arrest warrant due to her absence at past court appearances for a different criminal case in Michigan. In that case, she was accused of plotting to take control of voting machines after the 2020 election.

Lambert and a group of election deniers have caused a disturbance in one of Dominion's defamation lawsuits by leaking thousands of the company's internal emails publicly. They are using these leaked emails to spread false claims about voter fraud.

The issue arose when Lambert shared the confidential Dominion documents with Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf. Sheriff Leaf is known for supporting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and has been using his position to investigate alleged voter fraud in favor of Donald Trump. Within the past 24 hours, Sheriff Leaf has shared over 2,000 internal Dominion documents on his social media account.

Lambert is able to view Dominion files as she is representing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who is facing a defamation lawsuit from the voting company due to his false claims about the 2020 election. In the legal proceedings, they have been given access to evidence from Dominion, which has already provided over a million documents.

During a hearing on Monday for Byrne's defamation case in Washington, DC, Lambert was present. However, after the hearing, it was noticed that she did not exit the courtroom. This led to speculation among other lawyers about whether she had been taken into custody.

The judge asked Lambert to stay behind after the hearing. The other attorneys left, and then two federal marshals entered the courtroom and locked the doors. Lambert did not come out of the courtroom. The marshals did not disclose if she was arrested, and she did not respond to messages requesting comment after the hearing.

Later on Monday, the US Marshals Service released a statement confirming Lambert's arrest.

The U.S. Marshals Service has confirmed the arrest of Stefanie Lambert earlier this afternoon. Lambert is currently in custody facing local charges related to her Michigan-based criminal case.

The focus has shifted from the alleged 2020 election-related defamation due to the Dominion leaks, at least for the time being. Further hearings will be necessary to address this issue and for the judge to determine the potential consequences for Lambert.

Dominion’s lawyers mentioned in court filings that company employees are facing new death threats following the recent revelations. The online messages shared by Leaf include personal information like names, email addresses, phone numbers, and office addresses of Dominion staff.

At a sometimes tense hearing on Monday, Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya grilled Lambert with tough questions regarding the contested Dominion materials. As a result, the judge ruled that Lambert should not be allowed to access the database containing the Dominion documents.

Upadhyaya stated, "I will address the reason later on, but for now, it is important to maintain the current situation." He emphasized the importance of preventing any further spread of information.

The judge mentioned that there will be a upcoming hearing to decide if Lambert breached a court order by sharing the Dominion files. Byrne will be required to attend and provide answers. Dominion is seeking to have Lambert taken off the case and hinted at the possibility of legal consequences for sharing the files with Leaf.

Lambert, Leaf, and Byrne have stated in court documents and public comments that the papers they revealed show proof that Serbian individuals interfered in the 2020 election at the request of Dominion.

In response to the claims, a spokesperson for Dominion clarified that while the company has a limited number of employees in Serbia, any accusations of Dominion staff attempting to influence an election are completely untrue.

Lambert acknowledged during the hearing that she provided the materials to Leaf, claiming she did so under the belief that she was reporting a crime to "law enforcement." Additionally, she urged Congress to look into her assertion that "foreign nationals" meddled in the 2020 election, a claim contradicted by the US Intelligence Community's assessment that it was the most secure election to date.

"I handed over the documents to law enforcement," Lambert informed the judge.

Dominion strongly criticized Lambert and Byrne in court documents before the hearing. They described their allegations of Serbian interference in the US election as "xenophobic" and pointed out that Lambert had almost been sanctioned for her involvement in a baseless election lawsuit filled with conspiracy theories.

During the court session, Dominion lawyer Davida Brook expressed frustration, asking, "It has been almost four years - when will this end?" She accused Lambert and Byrne of using the lawsuits as a platform to spread more false information.

Dominion is taking legal action against various pro-Trump individuals who spread false claims about the 2020 election. This includes former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as right-wing cable networks Newsmax and One America News. Last year, Dominion reached a defamation settlement with Fox News for $787 million, marking the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history.

This story and headline have been revised to include new updates.

CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

Editor's P/S:

The arrest of a lawyer involved in spreading false claims about the 2020 election highlights the ongoing efforts to undermine the integrity of our democratic process. Stefanie Lambert's actions, including the leak of Dominion Voting Systems' internal emails, have not only threatened the privacy of the company's staff but also fueled baseless conspiracy theories that have eroded public trust in our electoral system. It is essential that those responsible for perpetuating these falsehoods are held accountable, ensuring that the