Maricopa County judge refuses to grant sanctions sought by county attorneys against Republican Kari Lake and her legal team after a three-day trial that confirmed Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ election victory bottom.
After months of fighting to overturn the November election results, Mr. Lake lost again on May 22. Lawyers for the county filed a sanctions request after the trial, saying Lake’s team’s allegations that the election was “rigged” were “heinous and extremely harmful.” They said one of Lake’s own witnesses said it disproved Lake’s team’s claim that the county did not verify signatures on ballots.
But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson said Friday that Lake’s failure to prove her claim with clear and convincing evidence was “baseless” and “not done in good faith.” ” did not mean that
“Even if her case did not prevail, Lake, through her witnesses, presented facts that matched and supported her legal claims,” Thompson wrote.
The Thompson ruling also found that the evidence presented by Mr. Lake and his attorneys did not prove any wrongdoing by the Election Commission, or that wrongdoing would affect the outcome of the 2022 election “on competent mathematical grounds.” Confirmed to have had an impact.
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office civil affairs chief Tom Liddy said the sanctions in the case were appropriate and the evidence of the false allegations made by Lake’s team was clear. He said sanctions should be part of the lawyer’s “self-discipline” process, without which “the reputation of lawyers and the judicial system will suffer.”
Politicians can “stand on the soapbox” and voters can be the arbitrators of what they say, he said. But “our courts have much higher standards for court personnel, including all lawyers. This must mean something.”
Challenge rejected:Judge rules against Kari Lake, recognizes Hobbs as Arizona governor in election signature verification trial
Lake’s loss in court on Monday marked the second time Thompson has rejected allegations of wrongdoing by county officials. She ruled against her legal challenge for the first time in December, saying the electoral system, while not “perfect,” was “more than adequate to comply with the law and hold valid elections.” .
The Arizona Supreme Court dismissed most of her appeal, but remanded the case back to Thompson, giving Lake another chance to prove her claim that voter signature verification by the county was illegal. .
In the latest lawsuit, Mr. Lake’s lawyers argued that they could prove that election officials examined voters’ signatures for too little time to count as legally acceptable verification, but lost the case.
Why County Attorneys Seeked Economic Sanctions Against Lake Teams
Maricopa County attorneys then asked a judge for financial sanctions as a means of publicly reprimanding Lake’s team.
They found five false allegations made by Lake or her attorneys, Brian Brem of Scottsdale and Kurt Olsen of Washington, D.C., within two months after the Arizona Supreme Court remanded the case back to Thompson. Identifies “misrepresentation”.
These included misreporting the results of an independent investigation into the county’s Election Day printer problem and pre-procedural testimony by county officials.
Lake also advanced a “frivolous” allegation that Maricopa County did not verify signatures for early voting, and said he knew his own witnesses would testify that they were part of the process. The county said in a sanctions request. The county said Lake and his team “in a blatant effort to defraud judges by claiming that the 2022 election was rigged, without trying to prove their claims and without any evidence.” engaged,” he said.
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Olsen and Brem countered that it was the county who mischaracterized the case.
“Punishing those who make legitimate claims, as plaintiffs have done here, does not add to the election’s credibility,” they wrote Thursday in a page 20 response. The response makes no allegations in the court records showing that Lake’s allegations were “harassment, unsubstantiated, and not made in good faith.”
Thompson concurred in the ruling, writing that the “false statements” made by Lake’s team did not “deviate from advocacy to misconduct” enough to warrant sanctions.
Brehm declined to comment after the judge’s ruling on Friday.
Court losses still cost a former gubernatorial candidate
Lake’s efforts to shelve Hobbes’ victory have already paid the former candidate about $35,000 in fees and sanctions, more than she is paying her own legal team. and the amount may increase further.
At the end of 2022, Lake paid Olsen’s company $187,000 and Brem $40,000 from his campaign accounts. Reports say she must file under state lawHowever, this may not capture the full amount of the bill.
Lake has a separate fundraising account that does not require disclosure, and her publicly available reports do not cover the past five months, but her appeal has gone through the state court of appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court. was done.
The Arizona Supreme Court received a ruling earlier this month that imposed sanctions and a $2,000 fine on Mr. Lake’s lawyers for repeatedly making “clearly false” statements in court.
In Friday’s ruling, Thompson said, “The imposition of sanctions by the Arizona Supreme Court for continuing to assert as truth facts and arguments that were previously judged and held to be without merit and which have not yet been finalized. It is distinguished from defending a theory that is not based on the Regarding the case in closing arguments. ”
Thompson also rejected the county attorney’s intention to formally sanction Lake in December’s trial. However, in the proceedings, he ordered Lake to pay $33,000 to cover the costs of Hobbes’ expert witnesses.
In a separate lawsuit, a federal judge asked Lake and former Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem to ban Maricopa and Pima counties from using electronic devices for voting and counting in April 2022. He was sanctioned over a lawsuit filed against
U.S. District Court Judge John Tucci said Lake should pay the defendants’ legal costs, but lawyers are arguing in court about the appropriate amount.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and an outside attorney asked the judge to award $141,690 in attorney fees, according to court records.
In December, Mr Tutsi made it clear that the purpose of the sanctions order was that the courts would not tolerate “further spreading false narratives that unfoundedly undermine public confidence in the face of growing disinformation and mistrust about the democratic process”. I wrote that it was to be A message to those who may file similarly baseless lawsuits in the future. ”
Eight days after the ruling, Lake filed an election challenge in Maricopa County seeking Hobbes’ removal.
Please contact reporter Stacy Berchanger. stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.please follow her twitter @sbarchenger.
Please contact reporter Ray Stern. rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. follow him on twitter@raystern.
