On Tuesday, an Arizona state judge rejected a request from Maricopa County and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs to censure Republican Kari Lake for making baseless allegations of election fraud. Lake had filed the action after her attempt to overturn her loss to Hobbs in court had been rejected. Although Ms. Lake was unable to prove her case of election malfeasance in court, Judge Peter Thompson of the Arizona Superior Court decided that her accusations were not made maliciously.
While he found that Ms. Lake “failed to meet the burden of clear and compelling evidence necessary,” he also stated that this “does not equal to a conclusion that her assertions were, or were not, groundless and brought in bad faith,” as Ms. Hobbs and Maricopa County had contended in their own filings.
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According to Ms. Lake’s campaign, “the judge slammed down Hobbs and Elias’ disgusting attempt at recrimination.” It is our intention to continue with the appeal. Irrespective of the backlash, [Katie Hobbs] intends to continue living as an illegitimate person.
However, Judge Thompson did order Ms. Lake to pay Ms. Hobbs almost $33,000 in litigation costs and fees.
This is a far cry from the $550,000 she requested in order to pay back Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias’s business.
In its motion for sanctions, Maricopa County claimed that Ms. Lake had exploited the legal system to “harass political opponents and create wholly unjustified suspicions about the integrity of elections,” and asked for $25,000 in compensation for the county’s legal costs. The request was turned down.
The verdict ends Ms. Lake’s election challenge drama for the time being.
She has vowed to go all the way to the Supreme Court in her quest for a do-over in Maricopa County, the focus of the election fraud charges made by former President Donald Trump and his associates.
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Nearly half of Arizona’s residents call Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, home.
Despite losing to Ms. Hobbs last month by a margin of almost 17,000 votes, Ms. Lake has refused to accept. She had Mr. Trump’s endorsement and believes the 2020 race was rigged.
Sanctions were sought by Ms. Hobbs and Maricopa County when Judge Thompson determined on Christmas Eve that there was no “clear and compelling” proof of misconduct at the polls, as alleged by Ms. Lake. In its filing, Maricopa County stated, “Enough really is enough.” It’s long past time to put an end to baseless criticism of elections and baseless allegations against election workers. This case was filed without a good reason, much less a strong one.
