The Kari Lake campaign has issued a scathing response to the judge who sanctioned her attorneys, describing him as a judge who wants to send a message and “an angry Obama appointee.”
The campaign of Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake severely criticized Judge John Tuchi, U.S. District Court of Arizona. Lake is contesting the procedure of the election held on November 8, in which Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was proclaimed the winner based on Monday’s certified results.
The criticism from Lake’s campaign followed a ruling by Tuchi penalizing Republicans Mark Finchem and Lake in prior election-related litigation. In that case, the two candidates sought a ban on computerized voting machines in Pima and Arizona counties, which Tuchi threw out in August.
According to Law and Crime, Tuchi dismissed the lawsuit because Lake and Finchem lacked standing to sue and their allegations of potential injury were “speculative or hypothetical.”
According to USA Today, Tuchi said the lawsuit sought massive, perhaps unprecedented federal intervention in Arizona’s elections but failed to meet that burden with any legal theory or factual basis.
In a statement, Ross Trumble, a spokesman for Lake’s campaign, accused the Obama-appointed judge of putting a political purpose into his surprise decision to reprimand Lake’s team of election attorneys.
Trumble stated that in a lawsuit, there is a winner and a loser. Sanctioning the loser is uncommon and must rise to the level of subjective ill faith or frivolity. He added that this matter has nothing to do with money or gain. It was a lawsuit demanding voting integrity in the public interest. Rarely is a party sanctioned in cases involving the public interest. The plaintiff summoned five experts. It is impossible to be in “bad faith” when so many experts back your viewpoint. They might be in error. But not in bad faith. “Punishing counsel is a serious attempt to tarnish counsel’s professional image. This may result in a bar complaint. This discourages other attorneys from ever accepting to represent conservatives. According to Trumble, this occurred in real-time in 2020 with multiple Trump attorneys.
In his judgment, Tuchi did not hold back as he criticized Lake’s attorneys for initiating the action as if they had the right to seek reasonable legal remedy for their concerns. Tuchi’s verdict stated imposing sanctions, in this case, does not diminish the significance of implementing processes to guarantee that Arizona’s elections are secure and dependable.
According to Tuchi, the sanctions are to make it clear that the Court will not tolerate litigants disregarding Arizona’s measures toward this objective. Those advancing false narratives unjustifiably damage public trust at a time of rising misinformation and mistrust of the political process. The judge explained that the purpose is to send a message to anyone who may bring similarly meritless lawsuits in the future.
As a result, Lakes lawyers would be required to pay Maricopa County’s attorneys fees, Tuchi wrote, because its attorneys had to use time and resources fighting this frivolous litigation instead of preparing for the elections.
Ironically, and seemingly unbeknownst to Judge Tuchi, the public’s faith was also eroded on Election Day when mistakes and concerns involving voting equipment began cropping up in highly red parts of Arizona.
Lake and her legal counsel are unconvinced that the November election in Maricopa County, Arizona, was conducted fairly. They think that thousands of Republican votes were disenfranchised as a result of major problems with the county’s tabulation devices, as stated by many individuals.
Obama named Tuchi to the federal bench in 2013, and Lake delivered an angry speech denouncing his decision.
Lake stated that she filed a lawsuit in June against using tabulators in my election. She asserted that this equipment was prone to malfunction. This action was rejected for lack of merit Statewide; 32% of voting machines failed on election day. Yesterday, Lake tweeted that an Obama-appointed judge sanctioned her attorneys for even filing the lawsuit.
Lake has doubled down after Tuchi’s verdict. During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, she threatened to bring her legal challenge to the November 8 election to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lake said they were prepared to file an unusual lawsuit. And they are certain that they will prevail in this litigation. If necessary, they will take the case to the Supreme Court. They will continue to fight because the people of Arizona were denied the right to vote.
Regardless, it is evident that Lake and her legal team want to battle into the foreseeable future. Many in Arizona and throughout the nation are skeptical that this year’s election process in Arizona was legitimate. However, Lake and her counsel will be burdened to prove any wrongdoing, particularly after the 2020 elections. Eventually, they will be treated fairly by a nonpartisan court.