Kari Lake finally gets a legal win from Arizona courts. Lake’s lawsuit over the 2022 state election was ended by the court because the legal threshold was not met to make a case. So the drama over voting machines and questions about the chain of custody with ballots is over.
That is not surprising because it was going to be hard to prove intent, which the law requires.
But Governor-elect Katie Hobbs could have walked away with that win and left well enough alone, but she just wouldn’t. She instead requested the judge sanction Lake and basically punish her for even challenging the elections.
This is where Kari Lake finally got her legal win.
Judge Peter Thompson, who was handling the case, dismissed Hobbs’ desire for retaliation and rejected the sanction against Lake.
Hobbs, serving in her present capacity as both secretary of state and governor-elect, filed the request to force lake and her legal team to pay the attorney’s fees for all parties in the lawsuit. She said Lake’s position was groundless and in bad faith.
But Judge Thompson said, “There is no doubt that each side believes firmly in its position with great conviction.” He also said that Lake did not provide convincing evidence but also did not reach the standard for sanctions to be imposed.
Thank goodness the Judge made that decision, the idea that Lake would be sanctioned for completely legitimate concerns is ridiculous. Some laws make the challenging of elections possible, and people should not be punished for using them.
The Maricopa County election was terribly flawed and there is no doubt that there were issues that were unacceptable even if people were not culpable.
The real question now is whether or not Hobbs will act to clean up the mess with elections in her state.
