Kari Lake sued for defamation by Republican Maricopa County official

Republican Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a lawsuit against failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who refuses to give up her 2022 campaign loss.

ABC 15's Garrett Archer posted a screen capture of the Maricopa County superior court filing Thursday, showing the details.

Richer posted an op-ed in The Arizona Republic announcing the suit, saying that she and her team should be held accountable for "utter disregard for the truth and the harm their words have caused."

"She has cast doubt on my loyalty to our country, our state and my office. She did this knowing that it would only throw gasoline on the fire of falsehoods about our elections," he wrote. "Lake has not sent me into hiding. Nor will she ever. But her defamatory statements have irrevocably altered my life, closed opportunities and damaged relationships."

He explained that he believes firmly in free speech, so he isn't suing her based on her lies and personal hate.

"Instead, it’s about the instances where Lake and her campaign entities chose to violate defamation law by repeatedly making specific untruthful statements alleging that I had committed heinous crimes," Richer said.

He explained that his wife had suffered considerably from the attacks on him, and there are now security concerns for her. A county election worker carries a gun to protect herself because she was stalked by people claiming she was "stealing the election," he also said.

A tabulation worker's parents refused to speak to him because they thought he was a criminal for doing his job.

He also mentioned the thousands of election workers who have left jobs because they didn't sign up for such harassment, intimidation, and attacks.

"This case is about a losing candidate for office refusing to accept the will of the voters and, instead, spreading malicious falsehoods to raise money and garner attention," he closed. "Those falsehoods not only undermine confidence in our elections and our democracy, but they also cause harm to real people — like me."

Read the full op-ed right here.