The far-right forces that control the Arizona Republican Party continue a steady diet of eating their own.
Currently on the menu is Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
This is for the felony of daring to seek sanctions against Kari Lake—trying to hold an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate accountable for using the courts to spread a false story that the election was stolen.
As a result, the Maricopa County Republican Commission wants to lose Mitchell in next year’s election.
No, really.
Mitchell is just the latest Republican to face party wrath.
I forgot to count how many Republican precinct committees denounced some or all of the 18 Republicans who voted to oust current Rep. Liz Harris. Harris, one of Congress’ most high-profile election deniers, was dropped in April for involvement in a deranged plot to publicly accuse Governor Katie Hobbs and others of working for a Mexican drug cartel. rice field.
The far right targets one of the few electable Republicans
Now it’s Mitchell’s turn to take on the role of facing Kali Lake.
On Tuesday night, the Maricopa County Republican Commission Executive Leadership Board voted: condemnation Mitchell invites “interested, motivated, and qualified Republicans” to run with her next year.
Mitchell is a conservative Republican, but he’s an increasingly rare type of person who values fact over conspiracy theory.
In other words, she is elected.
She won comfortably last year, as did several other traditional Republican candidates who ran statewide, but Lake and the rest of the Trump-supported MAGA team were eliminated, complaining that there was a solution. was
Mitchell crime?Blocking Frivolous Lawsuits About Elections
Mitchell is a law and order prosecutor who has literally spent decades hunting down sex offenders. She is someone who spends more time on what the law requires than on what the party requires.
And in this case, Lake lost all 10 stolen election claims, and Mitchell clearly held himself accountable for none of them having enough evidence to prove any of them.
The fact that it’s time for the courts to put an end to a spate of frivolous lawsuits this year has only furthered the political agenda.
So last month, she demanded that Lake and her legal team pay the county’s legal fees after losing not one but two court cases.
Republicans are strangely silent about who deserves sanctions
“Courts are established by the Constitution and statutes of Arizona to settle actual disputes between parties,” she wrote in her motion seeking sanctions. “They do not exist for candidates for political office to make political statements or raise money, and should not be used to harass or sow political opponents. totally unfounded I question the fairness of the election. All of them happened with this issue. “
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson has dismissed Mitchell’s claim, saying that Lake’s failure to prove a claim was “unsubstantiated” and “done in good faith.” Said it doesn’t make sense.
The county Republican commission said in a vote to censure Mitchell on Tuesday that his request for sanctions was “finally and completely denied by the court.”
Curiously, Republicans took no responsibility for Mr. Lake, and Mr. Lake’s case was eventually dismissed outright by the court. Twice.
If the party succeeds, wave goodbye to another Republican congressman
However, according to the county party’s distorted view, it is Mitchell and she who “generally continue the ongoing and widespread dishonorable conduct that directly and dangerously undermines the integrity of the Maricopa County elections.” It is a representative county.
That certainly isn’t the case with Lake, who couldn’t back up any of her 10 claims with actual evidence.
In its censure resolution, the commission said, “An interested, motivated, and qualified Republican committed to respecting and upholding the founding documents identified for the purpose of the MCRC shall be appointed to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in 2024. I strongly encourage you to run for the primary.”
Indeed, what the Republican Party really needs is to chew up and spit out one of the few winners and nominate yet another MAGA candidate in its place.
He is someone who can hand over one of the country’s largest prosecutors to the Democratic Party.
To contact Roberts, laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. follow her on her twitter @ Laurie Roberts.
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