County officials say Lake can’t get immediate records to challenge loss
The campaign of Arizona Republican candidate Kari Lake responded to a district court imposing a fine on her lawyers after filing an election-related lawsuit earlier this year.
Judge John Tuchi of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, who rejected a Lake lawsuit earlier this year, moved to fine attorneys for Lake and Republican Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem on Dec. 3.
“Imposing sanctions in this case is not to ignore the importance of putting in place procedures to ensure that our elections are secure and reliable,” Tuchi wrote in his order. “It is to make clear that the Court will not condone litigants ignoring the steps that Arizona has already taken toward this end and furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process. It is to send a message to those who might file similarly baseless suits in the future.”
But in response, Lake’s team disputed Tuchi’s order and accused him of being a politically motivated actor. A Lake campaign statement noted that Tuchi was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
“This case is not about money or gain,” Lake’s campaign spokesperson Ross Trumble told media outlets in a statement. “It was essentially a public interest lawsuit seeking electoral integrity. It is very very rare to sanction a party in public interest suits. All in all this reads like an angry Obama appointee who wants to send a message. The message is if you lose shut up and don’t come to court. The message is not that you lost a case or acted in bad faith.”
Representatives for Lake’s campaign and Finchem’s campaign didn’t respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment by press time.
Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz was one of the attorneys in the case filed by Lake and Finchem. Dershowitz told Law & Crime last week that he joined the lawsuit to support election transparency.
