The Lancaster County GOP and two of its former top officials are seeking reimbursement of more than $45,000 in legal fees from a committeewoman whose federal lawsuit and appeals were dismissed.
In court papers filed Wednesday, the Republican Committee also asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to hold committeewoman Millie Max's attorney, Paul A. Rossi, liable for part of the costs.
READ: GOP's motion for attorneys fees and costs
The GOP's attorney, Kevin M. French, wrote that Max and Rossi "brought this lawsuit for the bad faith purpose of influencing the outcome of the General Election," in which two committee-endorsed judicial candidates against whom Max campaigned were running.
The suit was dismissed in 2008. Max's appeals also have been thrown out.
"Because Appellant's appeal was frivolous," the GOP argues, "Appellees are entitled to recover their attorneys' fees, expenses and double costs incurred in defending against the appeal, in the amount of $45,487.86."
Neither Max nor Rossi could be reached for comment Monday.
Max, of Mount Joy Township, argued unsuccessfully in her suit that the GOP, former Chairman David M. Dumeyer and former Executive Director Andrew Heath violated her First Amendment free-speech rights.
She said they did this by trying to suppress her campaign against two committee-endorsed county judicial candidates in the 2007 primary election.
Those two candidates, Jeffery D. Wright and Howard F. Knisely, later were elected as judges.
The case hinged on whether the county GOP is considered a "state actor" during primaries, and thus subject to federal civil rights law, as Rossi argued on behalf of Max.
But the appellate court ruling said, "Max cannot plausibly assert that the 'fingerprints of the state' are on the alleged infringement of her rights."
The GOP's attorney said the ruling affirmed that the Republican committee is a "private political organization" entitled to its own First and Fourteenth Amendments rights of free speech and free association, including the right to develop a message and decide who the standard-bearers are going to be.
After the suit was dismissed in 2008, the party and its top officials asked a federal judge for an "award of sanctions" against Rossi, of Mountville, and reimbursement from Max.
They claimed in the filing that the suit was "frivolous, brought for improper purposes and was unreasonable, vexatious, and in bad faith."
But the judge rebuffed the effort.
This time, the GOP claims Rossi "is both personally and jointly liable with his client to Appellees for their attorneys' fees and expenses incurred in this frivolous appeal because he failed to uphold his obligation to the Court and the judicial system to research and understand the applicable law before pursuing an appeal.
"A reasonable attorney," French's filing reads, "following a thorough analysis of the record and careful research of the law … would have concluded that the appeal was frivolous."
The GOP's filing claims the decision to pursue an appeal "was the result of an intentional misrepresentation of the facts and the law on the part of Rossi," and that he should be held liable with Max for the committee's legal fees.
Rossi has said in previous published reports that he intended to petition the U.S. Supreme Court if his appeals failed.
Before the primary election, Max reportedly received unspecified information that turned her against the endorsed candidates.
She supported candidate Heidi Eakin, who did not receive the Republican endorsement. (By cross-filing, Eakin won on the Democratic primary ballot but later lost in the general election.)