Ammon Bundy and Diego Rodriguez seemed to be testing the limits of the judicial system Tuesday, as they continued to ignore a judge’s order and didn’t show up in court for the second time in a lawsuit brought by St. Luke’s Health System.
Gesturing to an empty defendant’s bench Tuesday afternoon, an attorney for St. Luke’s remarked to the judge that Idaho’s justice system “contemplates the parties actually participating” in the legal process.
“It’s likely that we’re going to be frequently needing the court’s help to move this along,” the attorney said.
The hearing allowed Bundy and Rodriguez to explain to District Judge Lynn Norton why they ignored her orders to answer questions by Aug. 5 about their organizations — People’s Rights Network and Freedom Man PAC/Freedom Man Press — including who is behind them and who published content on their websites.
Shortly before the hearing, Rodriguez submitted his defense in the overall lawsuit but didn’t provide the information he was ordered to provide. His defense filing was not available to the public by the end of the day.
Norton gave Bundy, who is running as an independent for governor in the Nov. 8 general election, and Rodriguez another opportunity to comply. She found the men in contempt of court but explained she wanted to “try lesser sanctions” before considering more punitive measures.
Norton said Bundy must sit for a deposition to answer the questions by Sept. 30, and Rodriguez must sit for a deposition by Oct. 7, because...
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