A trial court judge ordered Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finkem to pay attorneys’ fees in what he called a “baseless” lawsuit aimed at overturning his election loss. He said that he would be forced to
Finchem contested his defeat to Adrian Fontes. Finkem said Democratic opponents only won due to massive election fraud at the hands of Maricopa County and then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, but there is no evidence that it influenced the outcome of the election. did not provide.
He wanted a court order to reverse his election loss to Fontes, hand-recount all votes statewide, and have the Attorney General investigate Hobbes, who had been elected governor in the same election.
Morning headlines delivered to your inbox
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian said many of the allegations Finchem made, even if true, were brought in bad faith because they did not materially affect the outcome of his election. rice field.
“None of contestant Finchem’s allegations, even if true, would have changed the vote count enough to overcome the 120,000 votes needed to influence the outcome of this election.” Julian writes. her dominationadded that his allegations are “unfounded.”
The judgment condemned the allegations raised by Finchem and Cave Creek Attorney Daniel McCauley Since there are no benefits. In her ruling, Julianne must balance bringing sanctions against campaign litigants so as not to cause a “chilling effect” on those who raise appropriate concerns, while Finchem’s lawsuit ” Raised in ‘malice’, Macquarie-Finchem probably knew this.
She cited statements and actions by Finchem and McCauley as evidence for this claim. One of the first statements Julian made by Macquarie in December was, abandoned the electionopens the possibility of sanctions.
“I took this[lawsuit]because they needed someone to do this,” McCauley said at the dismissal hearing. are semi-retired at 75, and it will take them about two years to reach that point.”
Julian said McCauley’s comments indicate that he “somewhat recognizes the meritlessness of this lawsuit,” adding that “he will not be eligible as a result of the filing, given his impending retirement.” He expressed that there was little risk of being deprived of his license.”
Macquarie’s statement also supported Julian’s decision to allow sanctions, as it demonstrated “a conscious decision to pursue the matter despite the recognition that the contest had no legal merit.” bottom.
Julian also took issue with Finchem’s failure to pursue legal avenues to prove the alleged fraud that it claimed was prevalent in the election.
under Arizona lawFinchem had the opportunity to inspect the ballots he had claimed to be rigged, but claimed that 80,000 votes were “missing” and likely to support him. Regardless, it withdrew its request for inspection in this case.Finchem lost the election by more than 120,000 votes.
“This was a result of Finchem’s election loss, even though he knew his allegations of fraud and procedural misconduct were insufficient to sustain the contest under the law. We have shown that we have objected,” the judge concluded.
As a recently released report from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office showed, Finchem is known for making bold claims and refraining from providing evidence. Finchem met with investigators from the Election Integrity Division after then-Attorney General Mark Brnovic made multiple allegations online.
Investigators were interested in speaking to Finchem about the allegations he made regarding Pima County and finding 35,000 fraudulent voters. However, when Finchem met with investigators, he did not mention the allegations. Instead, he said he had no proof of fraud and didn’t want to take their time.
He gave investigators four early ballots, but the ballots had been sent to the former resident of the address on file, which led to a “flawed process” for mailing ballots. Ballots weren’t opened, they weren’t counted, and the Maricopa County Registrar’s Office had no record that the people in question had changed addresses.
Neither Finchem nor his attorneys contacted the attorneys of Secretary of State Adrian Fontes or Governor Katie Hobbes, who provided a large body of publicly available evidence dismissing all allegations from Finchem’s lawsuit. Instead, Finchem’s attorneys discussed how specific court proceedings worked without citing any relevant case law.
Julian ruled that Finchem must pay attorneys’ fees to both Fontes and Hobbs, but did not award additional damages.
Macquarie declined to comment in an email to the Arizona Mirror.
Finchem says it continues to raise money from election fraud conspiracy theories, and that the money will be used to “defend ongoing lawsuits related to the election, as well as repay campaign funds.”
Finchem has no campaign funds and no ongoing election lawsuits.
In his latest fundraising email, he and John Thaler conspiracy theory debunked It aired before the joint session of the Senate and House election committees last month.
This is not the first time Finchem has been sanctioned election litigationFinchem was sanctioned in federal court along with former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in a lawsuit aimed at banning the use of electronic tallying machines in the state in favor of handcounting.
