Kari Lake scrambles to get out of yet another self-inflicted legal mess, but the odds appear against her
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.Specifically, Lake said Richer, who also happens to be a Republican BTW, “sabotaged” electronic ballot printers and inserting 300,000 fake ballots into the Maricopa County ballot count.In reality, Richer didn’t do anything wrong and Lake lost the election fair and square to Democrat Katie Hobbs by 17,000 votes.His lawsuit demands the MAGA queen, her campaign, and a campaign-related fund stop trashing him and scrub all false and defamatory statements about him from their websites and social media pages.“She’s allowed to insult me, criticize my abilities, criticize my hair,” Richer told reporters. “She is not allowed to say that I did something that was criminally unlawful, something that has been adjudicated by multiple courts as absolutely, positively not happening.”Lake has tried to get the suit dismissed twice.
But she failed both times.In a 13-page decision released last month, Superior Court Judge Jay Adleman sided with Richer, ruling that Lake’s accusations were, indeed, defamatory and could be proven false to a jury, based on all the evidence provided to the court.“Defendant Lake’s statements regarding improper 19-inch ballots and/or the existence of 300,000 fraudulent ballots may be discerned by a factfinder as either true or false when considered in the light of any available evidence.
These statements constitute assertions of fact that are actionable under prevailing Arizona law,” Adleman wrote.Now, Lake’s team is asking the Arizona Court of Appeals to intervene and determine whether her most recent request to have the suit dismissed was improperly denied.Lake urged the appellate court to consider the issue because, as a candidate for U.S.
Senate, the lawsuit is “a matter of significant statewide importance” and “significant judicial and litigant resources will be extended” if it proceeds.“Defendants expect.
