Election Official Wins Case Against False Election Claims
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A settlement has been reached in the defamation lawsuit filed by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer against Arizona Republican Kari Lake, as confirmed by Lake’s attorney to *Newsweek* on Sunday.
According to *The Washington Post*, the settlement terms remain confidential, though both parties have expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the case, which was initiated on June 22, 2023.
After being accused of destroying evidence – @stephen_richer reactivated his @x account!
But the brief seeking DISMISSAL of his lawsuit against @KariLake didn’t rely solely on his destruction of evidence.
Notice how MSM isn’t reporting about the Motion to Dismiss?
— Jen Wright (@JenWEsq) November 14, 2024
The lawsuit stemmed from accusations made by Richer, a fellow Republican, who claimed that Lake, her gubernatorial campaign team, and an associated nonprofit organization repeatedly spread false allegations about his involvement in her 2022 election defeat to Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs.
Among these allegations was the claim that Richer deliberately printed ballots incorrectly to cause tabulator malfunctions throughout election day.
A staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, Lake has consistently refused to concede her loss and pursued multiple legal challenges concerning the election outcome.
According to the lawsuit’s complaint, “since the November 2022 election, Defendants have repeatedly and falsely accused Richer of causing Lake’s electoral defeat, including by claiming that Richer – a registered Republican – sabotaged the election to prevent Republican candidates, including Lake, from winning.”
As reported by *Newsweek*, Richer revealed in March that the accusations had resulted in numerous threats against his family, including death threats, damaged personal relationships, and irreparable harm to his reputation.
In a significant development, Lake’s March court filing effectively admitted to all of Richer’s initial allegations, as reported by the *Arizona Daily Star*. She acknowledged knowingly making false claims about Richer sabotaging the election through incorrectly sized ballots and allegedly inserting over 300,000 fraudulent early ballots.
.@Stephen_richer reactivated his X account.
Now people can ask the self proclaimed “Anti-MAGA” guy why he’s trying to “make life hell for @KariLake” and what makes him trustworthy to oversee elections with candidates who he would apparently go out of his way to harm… pic.twitter.com/hCnxNOcPQ5
— Jordan Conradson🇺🇸 (@ConradsonJordan) November 14, 2024
Protect Democracy, the nonprofit organization representing Richer, stated that the default judgment request indicated Lake and her co-defendants were “effectively conceding that they acted with ‘actual malice’ when spreading lies about Mr. Richer,” according to *Newsweek*.
The political fallout culminated in Richer’s defeat in the Republican primary by Justin Heap, a state representative backed by Lake, ending his reelection campaign in July.
