Katie Hobbs, Kari Lake.Photo: Ross D Franklin/AP/Shutterstock; Brandon Bell/Getty
Arizona Gov.-electKatie Hobbshas joined the lawsuit against former television news anchor andDonald TrumployalistKari Lakewho — after losing to Hobbs in November’s Arizona gubernatorial election — has attempted to get the results overturned in her favor.
On Monday, attorneys for both Hobbs and Maricopa County filed suit against Lake, seeking more than $25,000 in attorney’s fees after the Republican attempted to reverse the results of her loss in a two-day trial.
An Arizona judge denied Lake’s bid on Saturday, saying in a filing thathe did not"find clear and convincing evidence" that misconduct affected the result of the 2022 general election.
On Monday, attorneys for Hobbs (who currently serves as Arizona secretary of state, but will be sworn in as governor in January) and Maricopa Countyclaimed Lakehad taken a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach to trying to overturn the election in her favor.
The filing continues: “And they should not be used to harass political opponents and sow completely unfounded doubts about the integrity of elections. All of those things happened in this matter. Enough really is enough. It is past time to end unfounded attacks on elections and unwarranted accusations against elections officials.”
Even before she lost the race, Lake had falsely claimed that there’s “a lot of corruption” in the electoral system, and had publicly voiced support for Trump’s claims that his 2020 election was rigged against him, despite a lack of evidence to support that.
Sec. Hobbs previously drew scorn from Trump supporters for defending the state’s 2020 elections against those unfounded allegations of widespread fraud (a role that led her to be on thereceiving end of death threats). Her role in preserving the integrity of that election introduced her to the national stage, and ultimately led to the gubernatorial bid.
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Lake’s latest losing lawsuit came after another suit she filed back in April, in which she sought to block both Maricopa and Pima counties from using electronic election equipment. That suit was thrown out, with a judgeordering sanctionsagainst Lake’s attorneys for filing a “frivolous” lawsuit.
source: people.com
