The Kraken and Nigerian Princes

 I once administered the estate of a woman who, at her death, was subscribing to more than 50 magazines on a tremendous variety of topics. That discovery made little sense, since there were no indications that she was a voracious reader. The reason became clear when I came across a renewal notice that said “Renew now and $100,000 can be yours!” She sincerely believed that those subscriptions would make her rich. (As an aside, the shell company perpetrating this con has since been shut down for deceptive practices.)

The reason that scams work has nothing to do with facts or logic. Rather, their success depends on their ability to identify something that the recipient desperately wants to be true – and then to promise it. However, as we continue to see with the Nigerian prince scam, some people will continue to fall for scams, even when faced with the truth.

This discussion is background for the most recent developments in Attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood’s election fraud litigation in Michigan. You will recall that Sidney Powell has already been sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion for defamation. (Again, a reminder that the case is ongoing, so reserve judgment.)

The latest is that attorneys for the City of Detroit, who Powell described as “a third rate five-man Detroit law firm” (in a court pleading no less), are pursuing sanctions against them. Their brief concludes: “Plaintiff’s purpose was subverting democracy by obtaining judicial imprimatur to lend credence to baseless election conspiracy theories.” Dang, those are some big words for a third rate law firm. The petition for sanctions and its supporting brief goes into extensive detail to show that plaintiffs were pursuing this matter devoid of facts. The result was that many people, desperately wanting to find fraud, have been conned.

Although defendants present a compelling case, sanction requests are infrequently granted. A more likely result is that the matter will be referred to the disciplinary commission to address whether their law licenses should be impacted.

And still, some people believe the Nigerian prince. [Written on January 27, 2021]