A Maricopa County official sued former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for defamation over her assertions of irregularities in the November election.
County Recorder Stephen Richer, whose office maintains state voter files, leveled serious charges against the outspoken Lake. He claimed she falsely accused him of sabotaging the 2022 midterm election as she narrowly lost to Katie Hobbs.
The filing said that the defendants “repeatedly and falsely claimed — at in-person rallies and speeches, and on podcasts and social media,” that faulty images were utilized on ballots to sabotage the election.
Richer asserted she expressed her belief that he illegally entered 300,000 ballots into the county’s final tally.
AZ election officials are planning to sue @KariLake for defamation to try & shut her up
I wonder if they’ll explain why Maricopa election officials broke into sealed election machines after they were tested, reprogrammed memory cards, & reinstalled them?
pic.twitter.com/5bokL4IMAP— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) June 23, 2023
Interviewed by The Arizona Republic, the county official said he would never do the things he is accused of. He further claimed that under state law and administrative processes, he lacked the responsibility or jurisdiction to print Election Day ballots.
The lawsuit also said that Richer and his family have been subjected to violent threats and death threats from Lake supporters. He said thousands of dollars of the family’s own money has been spent on enhancing their home security.
Lake quickly tweeted her response, saying “I’m exposing the massive corruption in our elections and this [expletive] is suing me. He wants to silence US.”
The former candidate doubled down on her intention to keep corrupt election politics on the front burner in Arizona. She has filed numerous lawsuits challenging what she believes are sweeping irregularities that cost her last year’s race for governor.
The Republican pledged to take her legal challenge to the Supreme Court.
Lake further posted that electoral corruption put Biden in the White House and Hobbs in the governor’s mansion. “The majority of Americans KNOW our elections are fraudulent.”
She added that those who perpetrate “widespread fraud want us to shut up and accept it.”
Lake, who is considering a run for U.S. Senate, believes that thousands of Republican voters were denied their rights on Election Day by voting machine errors. These issues reportedly occurred in 60% of polling locations in Maricopa County.
She also noted significant concerns with the process for signature verification for mail-in ballots.
