Judge Denies $696K Sanctions Against Kari Lake; Election Claims ‘Not Groundless’

Judge Denies $696K Sanctions Against Kari Lake; Election Claims ‘Not Groundless’

By Corinne Murdock |

The Maricopa County Superior Court denied most of the $696,000 sanctions requested against Kari Lake. Judge Peter Thompson clarified that Lake’s claims of election misconduct or fraud weren’t groundless or brought in bad faith. 

“There is no doubt that each side believes firmly in its position with great conviction. The fact that Plaintiff failed to meet the burden of clear and convincing evidence required for each element of A.R.S. § 16-672 does not equate to a finding that her claims were, or were not, groundless and presented in bad faith,” wrote Thompson. 

However, Thompson didn’t deny all of the sanctions. He did award Katie Hobbs $5,900 in her capacity as secretary of state for an expert witness, $22,400 in her capacity as governor-elect for another expert witness, and another $4,700 in her capacity as governor-elect for 8 hours’ worth of ballot inspections. The total of over $33,000 comes with an annual interest rate of 7.5 percent. 

Lake’s “War Room” team declared Thompson’s dismissal a win. They reaffirmed that they would appeal his ruling on the case.

Lake’s lawyers petitioned late Monday to have Maricopa County and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ collective $696,000 sanctions request dismissed entirely.

In their court filing, Lake’s attorneys said that the county’s sanctions request was a punishment for litigating the election. The attorneys stated that they presented over two hundred witnesses that testified to facts and alleged violations of law, which included specific numbers of allegedly illegal votes exceeding the 17,100 margin between Lake and Hobbs. 

“[T]he issues raised before this Court were of significant concern to millions of Arizona voters as to the causes of chaos that arose on Election Day — and the administration of elections in Maricopa County generally — and Plaintiff’s claims deserved to be brought and heard,” stated Lake’s attorneys. “Trust in the election process is not furthered by punishing those who bring legitimate claims as Plaintiff did here.”

Lake’s attorneys further disputed Maricopa County’s claim that there wasn’t any evidence of intentional misconduct to change the election outcome. They cited the court’s acknowledgement in its ruling that evidence did exist — though Thompson determined that the evidence didn’t appear to affect the election outcome. 

The attorneys also rehashed testimonies from Election Day Director Scott Jarrett and County Recorder Stephen Richer. They claimed that Jarrett walked back his initial denial of knowledge of 19-inch ballots being printed onto 20-inch paper, something that would render them unreadable by tabulators. They also claimed that Richer offered conflicting testimony concerning chain of custody: he at first stated that ballots were processed at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) before being counted at Runbeck, then later stated that ballots were counted at MCTEC and documented on chain of custody forms before being transferred to Runbeck for counting again. 

The bulk of the sanctions fees came from the law firms tied to Democrat’s go-to litigator and principal Russiagate player, Marc Elias, who served Hobbs in her capacity as governor-elect. Hobbs requested over $457,000 for Elias’ law firm, Elias Law Group, and over $93,000 for Elias’ former firm, Perkins Coie. The two firms also requested nearly $56,700 for 16 hours of work. The firms noted that these definite fees for less than a day’s work don’t require a detailed review of invoices nor would they be subject to revision. In his denial of these sanctions, Thompson noted that itemization of costs were required pursuant to state law. 

The firms also requested over $22,400 in definite fees for their expert witness, Kenneth Mayer, and nearly $4,700 for 8 hours of ballot inspections.  

Lake claimed in a since-deleted tweet that Elias helped ghostwrite Judge Thompson’s ruling. 

Maricopa County cited this claim as a justification for their sanctions request. In their counter to the sanctions request, Lake’s attorneys declared that her speech was constitutionally protected. 

In her capacity as secretary of state, Hobbs requested nearly $37,000 for the services of Coppersmith Brockelman, a go-to law firm for Democrats whose partner, Roopali Desai, was appointed earlier this year to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Maricopa County requested an incomplete portion to cover attorney’s fees: just over $25,000. Over $18,700 would go to the county attorney’s office, and just over $6,300 would go to outside counsel with the Burgess Law Group. The remainder of the fees are pending. The county noted that only their clerical workers could export time from their time-keeping systems into a spreadsheet, and that they weren’t willing to require their support staff to work on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

The Maricopa County Superior Court dismissed Lake’s lawsuit on Christmas Eve. Judge Thompson asserted that Lake’s team didn’t provide clear and convincing evidence of election misconduct or fraud. Lake promptly announced that she would appeal the ruling.

In their sanctions request, Maricopa County declared that Lake engaged in “unfounded attacks on elections” and brought forth “unwarranted accusations against elections officials.” 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Kari Lake Anticipated to Appeal Election Lawsuit, May Face Legal Sanctions

Kari Lake Anticipated to Appeal Election Lawsuit, May Face Legal Sanctions

By Corinne Murdock |

Kari Lake plans to appeal her lawsuit against governor-elect Katie Hobbs in her capacity as secretary of state and Maricopa County.

Maricopa County Superior Court declared in a ruling issued on Christmas Eve that Hobbs was governor-elect because Lake presented no “clear and convincing evidence” of election misconduct or fraud. 

“[Election workers performed] their role with integrity. Not perfectly, as no system on this earth is perfect, but more than sufficient to comply with the law and conduct a valid election,” wrote Thompson. 

On Monday, Maricopa County sought sanctions against Lake and her attorneys, Brian Blehm and Kurt Olsen. The trio could owe up to $696,000 to cover attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the county and secretary of state’s office. The county asserted that Lake kept up a “sustained attack on Arizona’s elections” long before this recent election, and filed her lawsuit in bad faith. 

The county cited a since-deleted tweet from Lake, which shared a report compiling claims from “legal experts” that Judge Peter Thompson’s ruling was “ghostwritten” by the likes of top Democratic election attorney and principal Russiagate figure Marc Elias and others.

Lake would be far from the first facing sanctions for disputing an election in recent years. There are at least three other parties with outstanding sanctions.

READ MARICOPA COUNTY’S SANCTIONS REQUEST HERE

Prominent among Lake’s claims of election malfeasance were missing chain of custody documentation for Election Day ballots in violation of the Election Procedures Manual (EPM) and inducing Ballot On Demand (BOD) printer issues by using 19” instead of 20” ballots. 

Thompson preceded his 10-page court ruling by acknowledging voters’ “anger and frustration” over the “inconvenience and confusion” at vote centers, but issued a reminder that his duty was to weigh Lake’s claims and the actions of Maricopa County and the state against the law. 

“[T]his Court’s duty is not solely to incline an ear to public outcry,” wrote Thompson. 

In order to prevail, Lake needed to prove that alleged misconduct such as EPM violations and BOD irregularities were intentional, conducted by an officer making or participating in a canvass, intended to change the election outcome, and resulted in a change in the election outcome. 

The ruling reviewed the testimonies of Lake’s witnesses: Mark Sonnenklar, a Republican National Committee election attorney; Heather Honey, a supply chain auditor and consultant; Clay Parikh, a Northrup Grumman cybersecurity expert; David Betencourt, a temporary technical election support employee (“T-Tech”) with Maricopa County; and Richard Baris, director of Big Data Poll. 

With the exception of Honey, Thompson determined that these witnesses completely failed to relay personal knowledge of intentional or unintentional election misconduct. Honey testified that Runbeck Election Services employees introduced about 50 ballots of family members into the stream. 

However, Thompson determined that Honey’s claims were insufficient to meet the burden of proof because these ballots weren’t clear and convincing evidence of affecting the election outcome. Thompson noted that Maricopa County in its testimony clarified that it only granted Runbeck permission to submit general public ballots, not those family member ballots.

“Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence,” wrote Thompson. 

Thompson declared further that Lake didn’t offer sufficient evidence to contradict the testimonies of Election Day director Scott Jarrett or County Recorder Stephen Richer. 

READ THE CHRISTMAS EVE RULING HERE

In response to the ruling, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates declared that Lake sought media attention, not a remedy to the election. 

“Plaintiff Lake’s lawsuit was never about well-pled facts and evidence. Instead, it was the continuation of a made-for-TV tirade from a candidate who cannot or will not accept the fact that she lost,” said Gates. “Arizona courts have made it clear that frivolous political theater meant to undermine elections will not be tolerated.”

During a Turning Point USA event earlier this month, Lake pledged to take this case “all the way to the Supreme Court.”

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Kari Lake Anticipated to Appeal Election Lawsuit, May Face Legal Sanctions

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Kari Lake’s Case Challenging Election

By Corinne Murdock |

On Monday, a superior court judge refused to dismiss Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s lawsuit entirely against Maricopa County and the state. Wednesday’s planned hearing will go on. 

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson also denied petitions from outgoing Secretary of State and governor-elect Katie Hobbs, and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, to avoid deposition. 

The judge rejected Hobbs and Maricopa County’s argument that the Rules of Civil Procedure determining whether a case qualifies for civil litigation don’t govern election contests. The judge did agree that the court timelines permitted for discovery conflicted with the constricted deadline required by statute. However, even on that point he said precedent prioritized statute over civil procedure.

“[I]n this instance the substantive statute – with its strict timelines and limited room for discovery that define the parameters of an election challenge – must prevail over civil rules which simply do not fit in these cramped confines,” wrote the judge. 

Hobbs sought exemption from deposition. Her team sought application of “apex doctrine,” something which excuses high-ranking government officials and executives from testifying. The judge indicated that granting Hobbs’ request would set a standard exempting all government officials. 

“While the Court is sensitive to the need to have discovery be proportional to the needs of the case, the Court is not inclined to apply a blanket rule that high-level government officials can never be called to testify,” stated the judge.

The judge rejected Lake’s request to include emails in discovery, opining that the request went beyond the intent of statute for ballot inspection. He warned that a lax interpretation would have the “potential for transforming election contests of limited scope into a lighting-round of discovery disputes.” 

The judge also addressed Lake’s claims that Hobbs and the county violated the First Amendment. As AZ Free News reported earlier this month, both Hobbs and the county worked with a private company operating as a middleman between government and social media. Thompson asserted that free speech violations were “premise[d] on state action,” or direct involvement. 

“[T]he First Amendment does not restrain private parties from opposing speech, or choosing what to publish,” wrote Thompson. “This is the key deficiency with the claim against the Recorder and Secretary’s respective reports to the Election Misinformation Reporting Portal—after the report is made, there is no further conceivable state action. Twitter (to take one example) takes down posts that offend its terms of service after a report is made, and neither the Recorder nor the Secretary are alleged to have control over that process or are alleged to have the authority to compel such a take-down.”

In short: the court took Hobbs and Richer at their word. 

Thompson also rejected Lake’s claim that Maricopa County’s ballot-on-demand (BOD) printers lacked the required certification. He stated that relevant statute didn’t include printers. The judge did grant Lake an opportunity to present findings to support her claim of BOD interference resulting in lost votes for her in court.  

REVIEW LAST WEEK’S HEARING IN LAKE V. HOBBS

Thompson rejected Lake’s attempt to include a challenge of Maricopa County’s signature verification efforts, noting that Lake had since the April release of Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s report on the subject to confront the issue — but didn’t. Thompson also rejected Lake’s claim that mail-in ballots violate the state constitution’s secrecy laws, nothing that Lake had 30 years to challenge the law. 

Thompson also rejected Lake’s claims of due process and equal protection violations, indicating they were vague and repetitive. 

Thompson did accept Lake’s claim that Hobbs and Maricopa County violated chain of custody law. Thompson also afforded Lake the opportunity to prove BOD printer malfeasance.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Lake Election Lawsuit Against Hobbs Scheduled For Hearings on December 21, 22

Lake Election Lawsuit Against Hobbs Scheduled For Hearings on December 21, 22

By Corinne Murdock |

Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs will face off again over election matters next week — this time, over the course of two days in court.

Lake’s lawsuit against Hobbs and Maricopa County kicked off on Tuesday. Judge Peter Thompson scheduled the two-day hearing for Dec. 21 and 22. 

Kari Lake’s counsel, Bryan Blehm and Kurt Olsen, filed an ex parte motion to substitute one of the exhibits: “Attachment C.” They reportedly failed to redact voter signatures on their filings. The judge admitted them, however, which will require the clerk’s office to scan thousands of pages containing the redacted filings into the system. 

Andy Gaona, on behalf of Hobbs in her capacity as secretary of state, and Tom Liddy, on behalf of Maricopa County, both said they will file to dismiss. Alexis Danneman was present on behalf of Hobbs as governor-elect. 

The judge conferred extensively with all counsel on when and for how long hearings should take place, given the transfer of power designating Hobbs as governor fast approaching (Jan. 2). However, Gaona, Danneman, and Liddy expressed confidence that the judge would dismiss the case and insisted that an evidentiary hearing wasn’t necessary.

However, the judge stated that the substantial amount of evidence before him would require a “reasonable amount of time” to review. He noted that a hearing spanning multiple days would take the case right up to Jan. 2. 

“Looking at the timing of this, this is a statutory creature,” said Thompson. “This isn’t a ruling that I will be able to do in 15 minutes.”

Blehm asked for a three day “trial” at minimum, but the judge refused. Thompson stated that the case was a “hearing, not a full-blown trial” that would take a few hours for each side to argue, at most. 

Gaona warned that a lengthy hearing would threaten an orderly transition of power. He stated that Lake’s case was “non-existent.”

Liddy argued most of Lake’s evidence was duplicative, and some of the remainder was “of dubious probative value.” Liddy also noted that his team received a thumb drive on Tuesday morning containing confidential voter data. AZ Free News reached out for comment on this point. Liddy explained that they, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, received the thumb drive from the clerk of the board after it was served to the county by Lake’s team late Monday. The thumb drive contained about 6,000 pages of documents, many containing voter information such as copies of voters’ signatures.

Blehm took issue with what he claimed was a characterization of their evidence’s procurement by Liddy, but Liddy said he didn’t issue any characterization. 

Blehm also asked the judge for permission to inspect the ballots. Thompson appeared confused by this request and denied it. 

Technical issues with the conference call derailed the hearing for the better part of the hour, and continued to plague the livestream for the remainder of the hearing. 

The cause came from the publication of the conference call access information from those with massive followings such as the Democracy Docket, Wendy Rogers, and Gateway Pundit. Hundreds of members of the public jumped onto the call, leaving some of the litigants out. Initially, Lake and her legal team were unable to access the conference call.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Kari Lake Anticipated to Appeal Election Lawsuit, May Face Legal Sanctions

Kari Lake Fundraising For Lawsuit After Voters Claim Disenfranchisement

By Corinne Murdock |

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is fundraising to take legal action in response to the reported thousands of voters testifying their disenfranchisement. Most of the complaints concerned the county-wide vote center malfunctions that resulted in voters leaving without voting, spoiling their ballot, or having their ballot rejected later.  

Lake refused to concede the race to her opponent, Democrat Katie Hobbs, though most called the race in Hobbs’ favor earlier this week.

Lake began posting voter testimonies on Thursday.

Several voters shared that they weren’t comfortable with putting their ballots in “Box 3,” which was where ballots that the tabulators failed to read were placed. 

At least 17,000 voters ended up placing their ballots in that third box option. However, the number of those who refused and spoiled their ballots, then left without voting, is unknown; the county didn’t respond to AZ Free News inquiries about that estimate by press time. 

Voters’ concerns about their vote not being counted once placed in Box 3 stemmed from Arizona GOP leadership, who instructed voters to refuse casting a Box 3 vote.

The county insisted that Box 3 votes would be counted. Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates rebuked those who sowed distrust over Box 3 as a valid voting option.

Another voter claimed that he has cast a regular ballot for years without issue, yet had to vote provisional last Tuesday. He claimed that his vote has yet to be counted.

Another voter testified that the printer issued faded ink on her ballot. She said that her ballot was rejected eight times before poll workers had her spoil the ballot and vote on a new one. The entire ordeal took her two hours.

AZ Free News asked the county last week whether the toner used in the printers was the same as the primary. They still haven’t responded.

In a statement, Lake said that last Tuesday’s issues were proof of what she’d been saying for months. She blamed both the tabulation machines and printers for the mass vote center failures, though the county stated publicly that printer settings were the main issue. It took over eight hours for the county to discover the issue, well into Election Day.

Lake continues to gather election complaints on a website, “Save Arizona Now.” 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.