[bink]

No one was materially hurt? What about the two people who had to hire legal representation to defend themselves from baseless allegations and a pointless investigation? And the harm to their reputations?

I agree that there isn't much that can be done considering it's unlikely the legislature will hold the Governor accountable, but it's not right to say no one was materially hurt.

[moate]

I think a lot of people just boldly assume "you won in court, so there was no damage" because they have 1- Never had to win in court and/or 2- Have so much money that going to court doesn't materially inconvenience them.

The legal system is great if you can afford it, but often times you get exactly as much justice as you can afford. There's a reason that, despite the societal harm they individually account for, drug offenses get much more jail time than "white collar crimes".

That said, the State attacking private citizens(this is what court cases are, an attempted attack to inflict financial damages or jail time) for checks notes alerting the State that it isn't properly protecting its citizens, is not something that should be solely handled with a penalty of "possibly not winning reelection".