By Pepper Fisher
OLYMPIA — The Washington state Supreme Court has fined a nonprofit group and its lawyer more than $28,000 after suing Gov. Jay Inslee alleging widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The Washington State Attorney General’s office announced Wednesday that the Washington Election Integrity Coalition United (WEICU) and its attorney, Virginia Shogren, were ordered last month to pay the fines as sanctions for bringing a case that Ferguson described as “totally devoid of legal merit.”
Shogren, formerly of Sequim, is now listed as practicing out of Edmonds, Washington.
On the group’s website, WEICU (pronounced “we see you”) claims they submitted evidence establishing that there were tens of thousands of non-citizens that were registered to vote, most without their knowledge, and that thousands of ballots cast in the 2020 general election were otherwise altered.
But the high court said the group offered no direct evidence for the claims, the lawsuit was dismissed, and the court ordered the group, and Shogren personally, to pay the state’s costs in defending the case. Shogren is on the hook for nearly $19,000.
Ferguson said in a statement that he plans to file an ethics complaint against Shogren with the Washington State Bar Association.
The group has also filed separate lawsuits against county elections officials in Clark, Franklin, King, Lincoln, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom counties claiming widespread “electronic manipulation” and “statewide vote flipping.”
Neither Virginia Shogren nor anyone from WEICU have responded to our requests for comment.