In a small but important victory for 2022 Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, a judge has denied a request by Maricopa County officials to sanction the former reporter and potential Senate candidate.
The ruling follows a federal judge’s dismissal of Lake’s recent appeal request for state officials to coordinate a new election or declare her the winner due to election fraud.
Lake’s attorneys asserted that Maricopa County officials were guilty of negligence and malfeasance. Maricopa County officials responded by asking Judge Peter Thompson to impose financial penalties and sanction Lake.
On May 26, Thompson denied the request for sanctions and the demand that Lake pay financial penalties and reimburse the county for legal fees. Thompson ruled: “Even if her argument did not prevail, Lake, through her witness, presented facts consistent with and in support of her legal argument.”
Thompson wrote: “The remainder of Defendants’ allegations appear to rely on the Court’s inherent power as the authority by which they request the Court ‘award’ unspecified sanctions ‘against’ Lake’s counsel.”
Thompson continued: “The Court acknowledges its inherent authority to sanction bad faith attorney conduct and that the rules of attorney conduct in the Rules of the Supreme Court provide a legal basis for imposing sanctions against attorneys.”
To clarify his point, Thompson added that “opposing litigants in a heated dispute will naturally view the same evidence differently. … and they may question each other’s good faith motivated simply by their conviction of their own cause and incomprehension at the conclusions of the other.”
Maricopa County officials alleged in court papers that Lake, a former local Fox affiliate reporter, “repeatedly made demonstrably false statements intended to confuse the Court and expand the remand proceedings.”
Maricopa County officials acknowledged “there were problems with printer tabulators” on election day but assured the Court that voters could cast their ballots in person.
Lake has contested that claim and produced multiple videos from voters who indicated they were disenfranchised.
Though Lake continues to contest the gubernatorial election, she reportedly plans to run in 2024 for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). Some have also suggested that Lake is on Trump’s short list to run on his ticket as vice president.
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