A spokesperson for Mr Richer’s legal team told the Mirror in a written statement: “The matter has been resolved and resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”

Ms. Richer claimed that Ms. Lake’s false statements spurred threats of violence and harassment, and sought damages for thousands of dollars she allegedly spent installing new security features in her home. .

Additionally, Ms. Richer sought punitive damages, compensation for damage to her reputation and mental health, and an admission that Ms. Lake’s allegations against her were false.

Richer was elected county recorder in 2020, but lost his re-election bid to Arizona Rep. Justin Heap in the Republican primary in July. heap I’ve never admitted it directly He said he believed the 2020 and 2022 Arizona elections were stolen from leading Republican candidates and voted in favor of bills based on election conspiracy theories, including those promoted by Lake.

News of the settlement came days after Lake danced around formal concessions After Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego won an overwhelming victory in the U.S. Senate election, Over 79,000 votes. She has yet to concede in the gubernatorial election held more than two years ago.

richer filed a lawsuit for defamation June 2023, after Lake spent months falsely accusing Richer of rigging the gubernatorial election.

Lake repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Richer was responsible for 300,000 “illegal, invalid, fake or bogus” early votes that were being counted in Maricopa County. She spent two years contesting the 2022 election results, which she lost by more than 17,000 votes. lost in all court cases and bring the action inside the case.

In December 2023, Lake’s attorneys asked a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Lake’s claims: “rhetorical exaggeration” It is not intended to be taken as fact. But the judge I couldn’t agree and allowed the case to proceed.

lake in march Defaulted in litigationlegally acknowledged that her claims about Richer were false, even though her public statements about Richer continued to say the contrary. conservative podcast And a radio show.

Richer and Lake then began a month-long relationship. have a hard time forcing The other was to provide evidence that Richer could use to present to the jury to determine how much damages he owed.

Lake initially claimed he was excited to fight Richer in the case and in the discovery process, but he repeatedly refused to hand over documents in the case and released emails related to the case on his Arizona campaign account, Kali Lake. was purged when the campaign was disbanded. One of her lawyers falsely claimed Arizona’s Potash Lake no longer exists Almost a year before the defamation suit was filed, she was released from the obligation to preserve evidence.

The campaign filed its final financial report in early 2024 and spent money through Dec. 31, 2023, more than six months after Richer filed his lawsuit.

When the settlement was reached, Mr. Lake fast-tracked a Nov. 22 deadline to file an affidavit with the court explaining when the campaign emails were “deleted” and at whose direction. was approaching.

Lawyers for Ms. Lake’s husband, Jeffrey Halperin, who was a defendant in the case along with Mr. Lake and his campaign, attempted a trial last week. to have the lawsuit dismissedaccused Richer of ignoring a court order to provide evidence quantifying the amount he believed he was owed in damages.

The lawyer also said Richer permanently deleted X (former Twitter account) after the Nov. 5 election and cut off the defense’s access to related social media posts, and accused him of destroying evidence. denounced.

However, Richer simply deactivated his account and reactivated it less than a week later.

A spokesperson for Lake’s Senate campaign did not respond to a request for comment.