Kari Lake is being sued for defamation by the Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, who says she accused him of illegal acts in order to sway the 2022 election.
Lake filed a motion to dismiss the case but today the judge rejected her motion, saying her claims against Richer constitute actual malice, are provably false and were statements of fact, not just rhetoric and hyperbole:
Judge rejects @KariLake's motion to dismiss @stephen_richer's defamation lawsuit, saying her claims that Richer intentionally sabotaged the election constitute actual malice, are provably false and were statements of fact, not just rhetoric and hyperbole. https://t.co/tmJ67HrwTL
— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) December 20, 2023
Lake will now have to prove the veracity of her claims that Richer (whose office doesn't control Election Day operations) intentionally printed mis-sized ballots for the purpose of harming her campaign, and that he intentionally injected 300k bogus ballots into the count.
— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) December 20, 2023
Lake has never presented any credible evidence that either claim is true, nor has anyone else. Her lawsuits attempting to overturn her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial race, which included these claims, all failed.
— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) December 20, 2023