An attorney for Maricopa County, Ariz., said Saturday the county will be seeking sanctions against Kari Lake’s legal team over its failed bid to overturn her loss to Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs, the Washington Post reported.
“Tom Liddy, an attorney for Maricopa County, confirmed to The Washington Post that the county will be seeking sanctions,” the newspaper reported.
“A lawyer may not go to court without the evidence necessary for a chance to prevail,” Liddy said. “Lake had to make up 17,117 votes. She failed to identify one lawful ballot that was not counted, or one ballot that was counted that should not have been — and she knew that before she filed the contest.”
One of the lead lawyers representing Lake was Kurt Olsen, a Washington attorney involved in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the Post reported. Here’s its reporting of his closing argument:
“Olsen maintained, ‘The evidence shows that Kari Lake won this race.’ But he backtracked immediately, saying, ‘At a minimum, we have put forth solid evidence that the outcome of this election is uncertain.’”
Just three weeks ago, Olsen was listed in court records – along with famed attorney Alan Dershowitz and others – as part of the legal team sanctioned by U.S. District Judge John Tuchi, Salon reported. In that case, thrown out by Tuchi in August, Lake and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem had sued Hobbs and two county government boards over voting machines.
Tuchi didn’t cite individual lawyers by name, but issued sanctions for the plaintiffs’ legal team, Salon reported. And he had some blistering comments to back them up:
“The Court shares the concerns expressed by other federal courts about misuse of the judicial system to baselessly cast doubt on the electoral process in a manner that is conspicuously consistent with the plaintiffs' political ends.”
Tuchi concluded with this:
“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. 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."