OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:25 PM – Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Kari Lake has decided not to defend her statements in the defamation lawsuit brought against her.
Stephen Richer (R-Ariz.), the 30th Recorder of Maricopa County, filed a defamation lawsuit against Lake (R-Ariz.) back in June, alleging that she “repeatedly and falsely accused” him of causing her electoral loss in the race for Arizona governor.
He was elected in November 2020 and took office January 2021.
On Tuesday, Lake’s legal team filed a default judgment motion, indicating that the former GOP gubernatorial candidate was not challenging her culpability and instead seeks to dispute the damages.
They also added that Richer should be required to provide pertinent medical and psychiatric records as proof of the detrimental effects on his health, as he has claimed in his lawsuit.
In terms of the hearing regarding the default judgment, Lake requested a jury.
According to the lawsuit, his legal defense claims that Lake’s “knowing and malicious falsehoods” have caused “Richer and his family to be the target of threats of violence and even death, and have had their lives turned upside down.”
In addition to the stolen election allegations made by Lake that were cited in the lawsuit, was her claim that Richer had tampered with the ballots, “so that the tabulators would jam all day long.” In a separate case, Richer was also accused of “sabotaging” election day by her campaign’s official X (Twitter) account.
During Arizona’s 2022 election, dozens of vote tabulation machines broke down and refused to accept ballots for reading. Changes made to the ballot paper were ultimately found to be the primary cause.
Lake criticized the lawsuit in a video statement on X on Tuesday.
“By participating in this lawsuit, it would only serve to legitimize this perversion of our legal system and allow bad actors to interfere in our upcoming election,” she said. “So I won’t be taking part.”
Soon after, Richer replied to Lake on X, saying, “She has conceded she has no evidence (truth is a 100% quick defense to defamation), she has surrendered first amendment claims, and she has stopped fighting.”
“But I’m happy to start an investigation on damages,” he added. “Remember that she says this case looks a lot like Rudy’s and Trump’s—I’m fine with those final dollar figures.”
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