Maricopa County Recorder Stephen
Richer is suing Kari Lake and her marketing campaign for defamation, after
enduring a steady onslaught of vitriol and false claims from her and
her followers. 

Richer, a Republican, has been considered one of
Lake’s favourite targets as she continues to assert that the 2022
governor’s race was stolen from her, in the identical vogue that she
claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen from her political
idol, Donald Trump. 

“For the final seven months, I’ve
been subjected to fixed harassment, intimidation, and threats to my
and my household’s lives as a result of the defendants on this case have been spreading
falsehoods about me, my work, and our elections,” Richer mentioned in a
assertion. “Whereas I adopted the legislation and revered the need of tens of millions
of Arizona voters after the 2022 election, the defendants selected to
interact in a concerted marketing campaign to destroy my popularity, threaten my
livelihood, and rob me and my family members of our security and well-being.”

Richer, a Republican, has been considered one of
Lake’s favourite targets as she continues to assert that the 2022
governor’s race was stolen from her, in the identical vogue that she
claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen from her political
idol, Donald Trump. 

“For the final seven months, I’ve
been subjected to fixed harassment, intimidation, and threats to my
and my household’s lives as a result of the defendants on this case have been spreading
falsehoods about me, my work, and our elections,” Richer mentioned in a
assertion. “Whereas I adopted the legislation and revered the need of tens of millions
of Arizona voters after the 2022 election, the defendants selected to
interact in a concerted marketing campaign to destroy my popularity, threaten my
livelihood, and rob me and my family members of our security and well-being.”

Lake, additionally a Republican, misplaced the Arizona gubernatorial race final November to Democrat Katie Hobbs by greater than 17,000 votes. 

On Thursday, Richer, in his private capability, filed a defamation swimsuit
in Maricopa County Superior court docket towards Lake, her marketing campaign and the
Save Arizona Fund, a darkish cash nonprofit that Lake controls and that
has raised untold sums of cash to fund her authorized efforts to overturn
the 2022 election. 

“Because the November 2022 election,
Defendants have repeatedly and falsely accused Richer of inflicting Lake’s
electoral defeat, together with by claiming that Richer — a registered
Republican — sabotaged the election to forestall Republican candidates,
together with Lake, from profitable,” Daniel Maynard, Richer’s legal professional, wrote
within the grievance. 

The swimsuit particularly focuses on
Lake’s declare that Richer “deliberately printed 19-inch photos on
20-inch ballots to sabotage the 2022 common election,” leading to
300,000 “unlawful, invalid, phony or bogus” early ballots being counted
in Maricopa County. 

Though Lake has introduced this declare to the Maricopa County Superior Courtroom, the Arizona Courtroom of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Courtroom, none of these courts discovered her proof convincing, and the claims have been all dismissed. 

“Courts at each degree of the Arizona
judiciary have concluded that Defendants haven’t any proof to help
their wild claims,” Maynard wrote. “However Defendants continued to unfold
these egregious and dangerous falsities to additional their very own agendas — and
line their very own pockets — at Richer’s expense.”

Within the swimsuit, Richer factors to
quite a few examples of Lake and her marketing campaign making false claims about him
by means of posts to numerous social media accounts, on podcasts hosted by
Donald Trump, Jr., and the “My Pillow Man” Mike Lindell, and through
speeches, together with at Lake’s Jan. 29 “Save Arizona Rally.”

Throughout that rally, Lake mentioned that
Richer deliberately printed the 2022 common election ballots
incorrectly in order that the tabulators would jam, inflicting points on the polls on Election Day in Maricopa County. 

“Effectively, these guys are actually, actually
horrible at operating elections however I discovered they’re actually good at
mendacity,” Lake mentioned, through the rally, of Richer and Maricopa County
Supervisor Invoice Gates. 

Lake’s marketing campaign had instructed its
supporters to not solid early ballots and as an alternative solely vote at polling
websites on Election Day, and the printer issues at some voting areas
disproportionately affected GOP voters consequently.

Though there have been hundreds of
incorrectly printed ballots that might not be learn by polling web site
tabulators, all of these ballots have been in the end counted on the county’s
central election facility within the days following the election.

It’s apparent that Lake should know her
claims are false, Maynard wrote within the swimsuit, as a result of Richer isn’t even
in control of early ballots returned on Election Day. Whereas Richer’s
workplace is liable for early voting, Election Day voting is overseen
by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Lake has additionally claimed that 300,000
unlawful early ballots have been solid in Maricopa County on Election Day. The
whole variety of early ballots acquired that day was 298,942, indicating
that Lake claims each single early poll turned in that day was
illegally solid. 

Within the swimsuit, Richer accuses Lake and
her marketing campaign of defaming him to garner donations, mentioning that many
of Lake’s claims on social media and emails about Richer’s supposed
misdeeds included a hyperlink to the Save Arizona Fund web site, and solicited
donations. 

Not solely has Lake made false claims,
she’s additionally frequently insulted Richer on social media, calling him an
“incompetent, corrupt idiot,” and a “reprehensible human being,” Maynard
wrote. 

“Whereas Defendants have raised cash
and benefited from their defamatory falsehoods concerning Richer, they
have induced Richer substantial reputational, monetary, bodily,
emotional, {and professional} hurt,” he wrote within the lawsuit. 

One commenter on the Save Arizona
Rally video wrote that “somebody must be dismembered” for the alleged
election fraud, whereas others wrote feedback stuffed with expletives,
saying Richer must be jailed or executed. 

He’s additionally confronted every day hate, within the
type of emails, direct messages on Twitter, voicemails and in individual
confrontations, Maynard wrote. 

Richer says within the swimsuit that he and
his spouse have spent hundreds of {dollars} to put in new safety
options of their residence and that native legislation enforcement now do common
patrols at Richer’s residence and his and his spouse’s workplaces. 

“Defendants’ defamatory statements
have broken Richer’s popularity by slicing him off from Republican
networks and donors who as soon as supported his profession and future ambitions
for elected workplace,” Richer says within the swimsuit. “Predictably, this decline
in his profession and prospects and fixed requires his resignation,
prosecution and even execution have taken a toll on Richer’s bodily
and psychological well being and required him to spend money and time on further
medical therapy and drugs.” 

Richer requested the court docket for a jury
trial to award him with compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to a
assertion from Lake admitting that her claims about him are false and
the elimination of all false messages from her web sites and social media
accounts. 

“I firmly imagine within the protections
afforded to all of us below the First Modification, however when folks hurt
their fellow residents by means of defamation, they need to be held
accountable,” Richer mentioned in his assertion. “In America, nobody is above
the legislation, and I’m standing up for that precept and in search of justice
for what my household and I’ve been put by means of.”