Maricopa County officials request sanctions against Kari Lake for 'demonstrably false statements'

24 May 2023

Come early June, Democrat Katie Hobbs will have spent five months as governor of Arizona. But Kari Lake — the far-right MAGA Republican, conspiracy theorist and election denialist Hobbs defeated in 2022 — has yet to admit that she lost and maintains that the election was stolen from her. Lake has been filing frivolous lawsuits against Maricopa County, falsely claiming that the election was "rigged" against her.

Maricopa County officials believe that Lake's legal stunts are wasting the taxpayers' money. And on Tuesday, May 23, they asked for sanctions against Lake and her attorneys for making "demonstrably false statements" in a lawsuit that has been rejected.

KPHO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, reports, "In the filing, Maricopa County attorneys allege Lake's claim regarding signature verification had 'several demonstrably false statements intended to confuse the Court and expand the remand proceedings.' She alleged Maricopa County officials failed to perform any higher-level signature verifications on ballots that had been flagged by lower-level screeners for any inconsistency.… Maricopa County officials also brought up the allegations Lake and her team have been echoing since her defeat to now-Gov. Katie Hobbs, calling the election 'rigged.'"

This request for sanctions comes at a time when Lake is reportedly considering a U.S. Senate run for 2024.

Centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) is up for reelection next year, and Lake would be running for the seat that Sinema, a former Democrat, presently holds. Sinema has yet to say whether or not she is running, but if she decides to run as an independent, it is possible that Arizona could, in 2024, see a three-way Senate race between Sinema, liberal Rep. Ruben Gallego (who is seeking the Democratic nomination) and Lake (if she runs and wins the GOP nomination).

Lake, according to Axios, is also on former President Donald Trump's short list of possible running mates if he wins the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

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