Lawyers for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are urging a court to slap penalties against Kari Lake, Mark Finchem, and their lawyers for a “frivolous lawsuit” against the county pertaining to election practices.
Lake and Finchem filed a suit in April demanding a judge prohibit the county from using certain equipment in the 2022 election due to concerns about possible fraud and hacking, but Maricopa County is arguing that the suit was rife with “demonstrably false allegations made without any basis or reasonable factual inquiry.”
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“Plaintiffs and their counsel violated Rule 11(b)(1) by pursuing this frivolous lawsuit that has no factual or legal basis for the improper purpose of undermining confidence in elections and to further their political campaigns,” the motion for sanctions said.
Their lawsuit in April alleged that Arizona does not use paper ballots, audit its election results, or test its voting machines, assertions that Maricopa County lawyers strongly refuted in their motion for sanctions. The motion for sanctions was filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona on July 18.
Lawyers for Finchem and Lake, which includes Alan Dershowitz, are named in the motion. The county is also seeking attorney fees from the defendants in addition to sanctions the court deems sufficient to “deter repetition of such conduct or comparable conduct by others similarly situated.”
Lake and Finchem are vying for statewide office in the midterm elections, with Lake clinching the Republican nod for governor and Finchem the nod for secretary of state earlier this month. The pair have regularly peddled claims about election malfeasance in the Grand Canyon State.
“Both counsel and Plaintiffs have pursued this matter for an improper purpose — namely to sow doubts about the reliability and trustworthiness of elections for their own financial and political benefit,” the motion continued.
Finchem accused the county of pursuing the motion against him to help “divert attention” from the election concerns he raised.
“It is indeed interesting that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors reject scrutiny of an election that by all accounts was botched,” Finchem told the Washington Examiner. “We have evidence that it was botched, and now they seek to kill the messenger because they hate the message. This is political theater.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to a representative for Lake for comment.
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Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county, was a hotbed for election fraud claims in the 2020 election cycle. Former President Donald Trump and some of his allies alleged widespread fraud transpired in the county during the presidential election cycle.
In response to concerns about the election, state Republicans tapped Cyber Ninjas to conduct an audit of the county’s tabulation. The controversial review eventually reaffirmed President Joe Biden’s victory. The Cyber Ninjas found 99 additional votes for Biden and 261 fewer votes for former President Donald Trump, but Arizona’s Senate referred the findings due to concerns raised by the auditors regarding election practices.
