Former Republican candidate Kari Lake claims her lawsuit that challenged the results of the Arizona gubernatorial election was “brought in good faith” in light of sanctions filed against her by Maricopa County and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs.
On Saturday, Maricopa County Judge Peter Thompson ruled against Lake’s suit, saying that the Trump-backed candidate failed to provide “clear and convincing” evidence that there was intentional misconduct from election officials.
Lake and her legal team had claimed that she actually won Arizona’s election by 400,000 to 500,000 votes, but failed to bring forward any evidence that proved so.
Maricopa County was the first to file sanctions against Lake and her attorneys on Monday, writing in the conclusion of their motion that “enough really is enough.”
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“It is past time to end unfounded attacks on elections and unwarranted accusations against election officials,” Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Thomas Liddy wrote on behalf of several county election officials Lake had attempted to sue.
“This matter was brought without any legitimate justification, let alone a substantial one,” Liddy added.
Hobbs joined the motion shortly after and requested over $600,000 in compensation for fees and expenses she accumulated while defending against Lake’s suit. Attorneys for the governor-elect wrote that Lake’s “claims and the manner in which they were brought” were made “without substantial justification,” quoting Maricopa County’s motion.
Lake’s legal team responded to the sanctions later in the night, arguing that the joint motion had “no basis in law or fact” because Lake had filed the suit “in good faith.”
“[Lake] put forth evidence in good faith that showed substantial support for her claims—claims which also remain of great public concern,” read the conclusion written by attorney Bryan Blehm.
Under Arizona law, Hobbs and county officials may be awarded “reasonable attorney fees” if claims in the suit were brought “without substantial justification” or if the claims were brought “solely or primarily for delay or harassment.”
In Thompson’s decision to dismiss Lake’s suit over the weekend, he wrote that the court found “nothing to substantiate” Lake’s claims of intentional election misconduct. The court also anticipated that sanctions would be filed for court fees, and gave Hobbs and election officials until 8 a.m. Monday morning to submit a “statement of cost” for such expenses.
Lake’s attorneys have previously faced sanctions for a lawsuit filed in April alongside former Arizona Attorney General Mark Finchem, which had attempted to block the use of electronic voting machines in the 2022 midterm election. U.S. District Judge John Tuchi awarded sanctions to Maricopa County officials at the beginning of December in the suit, writing that Lake had made “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions.”
Maricopa County officials acknowledged on Monday that they had previously filed sanctions against Lake’s attorneys and not the Republican candidate herself, but added that Lake had since “doubled down” on her false accusations.
Ross Trumble, Lake’s communications director, said her team had no further comment on their response filed Monday.
