by Ben Whedon
A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered that two leaders of a conservative election integrity watchdog organization be detained for a day following their failure to comply with a court mandate to hand over evidence as part of their legal battle with Konnech, a Michigan-based firm that provides poll watcher management software to election offices.
After holding both in contempt in a Thursday hearing, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered that Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht comply with the court order to name an unidentified individual whom they say was present at a 2021 meeting during which they purportedly received evidence to substantiate their claims against Konnech. Hoyt gave them until 9 a.m. Monday morning to produce the information or face detention, per the Texas Tribune. They declined to comply.
“Therefore, the defendants Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht, are ORDERED detained by the U.S. Marshal for one-day and further until they fully comply with the Courts Order as set out in the TRO,” Hoyt wrote Monday. Marshals escorted the pair from the courtroom to a holding cell after they refused on Monday to name the other individual present at the meeting. They will reportedly remain in jail until they release the name of the man.
Phillips previously announced the contempt ruling on Thursday via Truth Social, saying, “Doing the right thing isn’t always easy but it’s always right… We were held in contempt of court because we refused to burn a confidential informant or our researchers. We go to jail Monday unless we comply,” per the Tribune.
The group has alleged that Konnech improperly stored the personal data of U.S. poll workers and that Konnech CEOÂ Eugene Yu was an agent of the Chinese Communist Party, per the Tribune. They, in turn, face a defamation claim over their assertions.
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Ben Whedon is the night editor for the Just the News. Whedon came to the company from Breitbart News and is a graduate of Washington and Lee University.
Photos “Catherine Engelbrecht” by Catherine Engelbrecht and “Gregg Phillips” is by True the Vote.
How CCP of this judge.
Lawfare – A legal system so divorced from the concept of right and wrong that justice is perverted and evil is served.
Another miscarriage of justice in the USA,
I hold this judge in contempt.