The Maricopa County Republican Committee has criticized all seven Arizona Supreme Court justices for “failing to perform their duties fairly and impartially” in dismissing Kali Lake and Abe Hamade's motion to overturn the results of the 2022 election and allowing a defamation lawsuit against Lake to proceed.
The MCRC Executive Leadership Committee unanimously adopted the resolution. Condemnation On May 7, he criticized the Arizona Supreme Court for “wrongfully” dismissing a lawsuit brought by Republican lawmakers challenging the 2022 election. lake and Hamadeand Republican Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer. Defamation lawsuit Advance against Lake.
Both Lake and Hamadeh continue to fight losses in the 2022 election, with Lake running for U.S. Senate and Hamadeh running for U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's 8th Congressional District.
In a statement of denunciation, the Maricopa County Republican Party said Arizonans “have real and verifiable claims of election interference and manipulation and rely on our court system to adjudicate those claims fairly and honestly,” and argued that bias on the part of the courts and Supreme Court has resulted in “an injustice to our residents.”
No evidence of fraud or wrongdoing has been presented in the numerous lawsuits filed by Republican candidates and their allies seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 and 2022 elections. All have been dismissed for lack of evidence or for seeking relief not permitted by state law.
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The Maricopa County Republican Party has no real power to censure the court beyond a declaration of intent: In reality, the court is held accountable by voters in the form of the retention of judges in regular elections, and by the 11-member House of Delegates. Judicial Conduct Committeewill investigate complaints against all judges in the state, from the Supreme Court to magistrate judges.
The commission has six judges appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court, and the remaining members of the commission are attorneys appointed by the Arizona State Bar or private citizens appointed by the governor.
The MCRC accused the lower court judges of “clear bias” and criticized the Supreme Court justices for failing to correct the wrongdoings allegedly committed by lower courts, but the lower court judges who dismissed the Lake and Hamade election lawsuits were appointed by former Republican Governor Jan Brewer.
moreover, All judges The state Supreme Court justices were appointed by either Brewer or former Gov. Doug Ducey, also a Republican.
The election challenge lawsuits filed by Lake and Hamadeh after they lost their 2022 races for Arizona governor and attorney general, respectively, have been dismissed at every level of the state's court system for lack of compelling evidence, but some of their supporters believe their claims that the election was somehow stolen.
“The public expects the court system to adjudicate these claims fairly and honestly,” the MCRC's Executive Leadership Committee wrote in its condemnation.
Republicans further said the Arizona Supreme Court compounded the injustice it allegedly imposed by dismissing the case by “imposing unjust and unwarranted sanctions” on Lake and Hamadeh's lawyers. Make a false claim “Substantive justification.”
Executive committee members also criticized the Supreme Court for “failing to correct” a lower court's decision to allow a baseless and unprecedented defamation lawsuit brought by Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer against U.S. Senate candidate Kali Lake to go forward. The committee said the decision was “a clear violation of the First Amendment and runs counter to decades of law and constitutional precedent.”
– Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer
However, the committee found that Lake Already hospitalized All of Mr. Richter's allegations are true, the court has argued, and all that remains for the court to do is to conduct discovery and award damages.
Lake is Twisting her concessions She won the case, saying she refused to take part in a “witch hunt” against Richter, but the judge later said that when Lake lost the case in March, she was essentially All of Richter's allegations were found to be true in court. .
When the Arizona Mirror reached out to Richer for comment on MCRC's accusations, he responded via text message.
“LOL,” Richer wrote. “You can quote me on that.”
Richer A defamation lawsuit was filed in June 2023.It comes after months of attacks by Lake and his supporters who have alleged, without evidence, that he was somehow involved in rigging the November 2022 election against Lake and other Republicans running for statewide office.
Lake had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, but the judge allowed it to proceed after one of his lawyers argued at a December hearing that Lake's statements about Richter were “rhetorical exaggerations” and should not be taken as fact.
Neither MCRC executive committee chairman Craig Berland nor the party's vice chair Shelby Bush immediately responded to Mirror inquiries for further details about the accusations or what they hope they will lead to.
Bush is the head of the far-right election denial group “We the People Az Alliance.” Presentation full of election conspiracy theories To the members of the state elections committee.
As of press time, the Arizona Supreme Court had not responded to a request for comment.
