Lawyers for failed pro-Trump Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake have been hit with sanctions by the Supreme Court of Arizona for pushing a conspiracy theory that 35,000 extra ballots were added to the voting rolls of Maricopa County, reported The Arizona Republic on Thursday.
“Attorneys for Gov. Katie Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, both Democrats, sought sanctions against Lake for bringing what they called a frivolous and unfounded lawsuit,” reported Stacey Barchenger. “The order signed by Chief Justice Robert Brutinel declined to award Hobbs and Fontes their attorneys fees and said Lake’s lawyers must pay $2,000 to the court clerk for repeatedly claiming it was an ‘undisputed fact’ that 35,563 ballots were added to the results at Maricopa County’s third-party ballot processor, Runbeck Election Services. Hobbs, Fontes and Maricopa County all disputed the claim.”
“Even after the Supreme Court itself said Lake did not show evidence to prove ballots were added, her attorneys Bryan Blehm and Kurt Olsen made the claim again in an April court filing,” said the report. “‘Sometimes campaigns and their attendant hyperbole spill over into legal challenges,’ the Arizona Supreme Court order reads. ‘But once a contest enters the judicial arena, rules of attorney ethics apply.’ Those rules build confidence in the judicial system, the court said, noting that sanctions can deter lawyers from making false statements in the future.”
An earlier court decision allows Lake’s team to continue on with another trial reviewing her baseless claims about the election. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s holding, but look forward to presenting our case at trial,” said Olsen in an email to The Republic.
Lake has refused to concede her election loss, pushing a variety of false and unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct in Maricopa County.
She has subsequently faced a criminal referral filed by the Secretary of State’s office, after she showed what appeared to be images of real voter signatures in a rant about election integrity on social media, which would be a violation of Arizona state law.