Why Kari Lake is in 'deep, deep trouble' in GOP election official’s defamation lawsuit

11 January 2024

Following former President Donald Trump's election denial example, far-right MAGA Republican Kari Lake has been falsely claiming that Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial election was stolen from her — a claim that Maricopa County, Arizona Recorder Stephen Richer (a conservative Republican) has repeatedly debunked.

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, according to Richer, won the election fair and square. And Richer has filed a defamation lawsuit against Lake.

Lake, who is seeking the GOP nomination in Arizona's 2024 U.S. Senate race, has been trying to get the lawsuit thrown out in court. But her efforts have been unsuccessful, and on Wednesday, January 10, the Arizona Court of Appeals reaffirmed that Richer's lawsuit should go forward.

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The Arizona Republic's Laurie Roberts analyzes the state of that lawsuit in an op-ed published on January 10, stressing that things aren't going well for the MAGA conspiracy theorist.

"Rather than demanding a quick trial so that she can 'out' this supposedly dirty public official," Roberts explains, "Lake has asked — twice now — that the lawsuit be dismissed. She claims Richer has no right to try to hold her accountable, no matter how many death threats he and his family must endure. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jay Adleman disagreed."

Roberts continues, "Last month, he rejected her lawyers' claim that her accusations of intentional sabotage weren't really claims of intentional sabotage but 'mere rhetorical hyperbole.' The judge didn't buy it, pointing out that her specific claims of criminal activity are either provable — or not…. In fact, (Adleman) found that Richer may also have the goods to prove 'actual malice,' which is another way of saying Kari Lake is in deep, deep trouble."

Read Laurie Roberts' full Arizona Republic op-ed at this link.

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