The $148 million ruling against Rudy Giuliani could have failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake “shaking in her boots,” according to a new analysis from MSNBC.
The ruling against Giuliani, and in favor of two Georgia poll workers he falsely accused of interfering in the 2020 election, came days before an Arizona Superior Court judge ruled a similar defamation lawsuit against Lake could go ahead.
The timing is important, argue MSNBC analysts Steve Benen and Alex Wagner.
“This is relevant because Lake is her party’s likely nominee in next year’s closely watched U.S. Senate race in the Grand Canyon State,” writes Benen.
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Like Giuliani, Lake will now have to face the consequences of election-denying claims, in her case that two Republican election officials in Maricopa County helped “rig” Arizona’s gubernatorial race.
And as did Ruby Freeman, the Georgia poll worker who says she was terrorized after Giuliani defamed her, one of those officials has said he received death threats when targeted by Lake.
“We don’t yet know what the outcome of the defamation case might be,” writes Benen, “but we now know that the litigation will move forward.”
That Lake will be facing these court proceedings as she heads into an election year is not ideal, but Wagner notes another problem with timing.
The Arizona judge’s ruling arriving so soon after a Washington D.C. judge found Giuliani liable for $148 million in damages sends a message to Lake, Wagner told Benen.
The ruling has “significant implications for what we as a country allow election deniers to get away with,” she said.
