Kari Lake seeks default judgment in defamation suit against her: report

Arizona Republican US Senate Kari Lake on Tuesday decided against doubling down on remarks she made about Maricopa County top election official Stephen Richer — a Republican, who filed a suit against the failed gubernatorial candidate for defamation last June, The Washington Post reports.

The election official for Arizona's largest county shared an op-ed published by The Arizona Republic announcing his legal action last year, declaring that Lake "and her team should be held accountable for 'utter disregard for the truth and the harm their words have caused.'"

He wrote, "She has cast doubt on my loyalty to our country, our state and my office. She did this knowing that it would only throw gasoline on the fire of falsehoods about our elections. Lake has not sent me into hiding. Nor will she ever. But her defamatory statements have irrevocably altered my life, closed opportunities and damaged relationships."

READ MORE: Kari Lake sued for defamation by Republican Maricopa County official

The Donald Trump-supporting former newscaster had been trying "trying to get the lawsuit thrown out in court," but the Arizona Court of Appeals decided in January Richer's lawsuit would proceed.

Per the Post, "Attorneys for Lake, her 2022 campaign for governor and an affiliated nonprofit group on Tuesday asked a judge to begin the process of determining damages as part of" the lawsuit, and the judge complied.

The Senate hopeful, according to the report, also has asked that the "judge set what is known as a default judgment hearing, which would essentially bypass the legal process for her to defend her comments. She instead wants the court to hold a hearing to determine whether damages are owed to Richer and, if so, the amount."

However, Lake did choose to air her grievances in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter). She "echoed rhetoric employed by Trump and called the case against her a 'political witch hunt,'" the Post reports, by comparing "the defamation case to the lawsuits Trump is facing, saying that those pursuing legal action 'know they can’t beat either of us fair and square, so they hit us with lawsuits to keep us tied up and off the campaign trail' and to 'try to stop me and bleed me dry.'"

READ MORE: Why Kari Lake is in 'deep, deep trouble' in GOP election official’s defamation lawsuit

An hour later, Richer called out Lake, writing, "It was a lie. It was always a lie. She did it to get your $25. Or to fire you up. But it was all a lie. There were no "300,000 fraudulent early ballots" etc. She defamed me. But she also lied to you."

When Richer announced the suit last year, the election official "explained that his wife had suffered considerably from the attacks on him, and there are now security concerns for her." He added, "A county election worker carries a gun to protect herself because she was stalked by people claiming she was 'stealing the election.'"

The Post reports, "Richer has asked the court to award him damages, attorneys’ fees and a public acknowledgment that the statements about him were untrue. He also wants Lake and her allies to remove all false information about him from their social media accounts and websites."

READ MORE: Kari Lake faces uphill climb in efforts to woo moderate Republicans: 'Politics of personal destruction'

The Washington post's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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