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A California judge threw out a lawsuit filed by Maxine Waters’ former opponent, Republican Joe Collins, and ordered him to pay thousands in attorney fees.
Last month, Judge Yolanda Orozco dismissed a libel and slander lawsuit filed by Collins during the 2020 election cycle. This week, the judge ordered Collins to pay $53,000 to cover Waters’ legal fees, according to The Los Angeles Sentinel.
Waters issued a fiery statement in response to the news about Orozco’s latest ruling.
“In the simplest of terms, Joe Collins has, once again, done what he does best – lose,” the statement read. “After filing a baseless and frivolous lawsuit against me that went nowhere, it became even more clear that Joe Collins is not in this for the people of the 43rd Congressional District but is instead in it for one person, and that person is himself.”
“Joe Collins is nothing more than a serial filer of lawsuits looking to attract media attention at any cost – in this case, that cost is $53,589,” Waters continued. “He even filed a lawsuit against the United States Navy, which he claimed to love, and lost that too.”
The statement also claimed Collins had filed another lawsuit against Waters and Los Angeles officials to contest the 2020 election results. He lost to Waters by 100,000 votes, per the statement. She went on to accuse him of copying tactics used by former President Donald Trump.
“It has come to my attention that Joe Collins, the loser and serial lawsuit filer, has filed yet another lawsuit – this time naming myself, Los Angeles County, and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan as defendants and challenging the election results,” Waters wrote.
Waters assured her supporters Collins would lose his latest lawsuit.
“Doesn’t that sound like something we have heard before? This is a tactic taken right from Donald Trump’s playbook because Joe Collins is, indeed, a Trump puppet whose allegiance lies far from the best interest of our community,” Waters said. “Just like I have in every other instance, I will defeat him in this case, too.”
She said what she said.
Collins hasn’t said anything publicly about the dismissal, but if his social media accounts are any indication, the beef is mutual. His Twitter page has a pinned video showing Collins visiting Waters’ alleged home to prove she doesn’t live in the district she represents.
“I’m back & paid another visit to Maxine Waters. Know where she lives? NOT in our district,” the tweet read. “Maxine doesn’t care about our problems— she’s actually made them worse. Help me send Maxine back to her $6 million, taxpayer-funded mansion FOR GOOD.”
Well, alrighty then.