(Headline USA) Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake blasted a federal judge who sanctioned and fined her legal team last week, accusing him of acting in a politically motivated manner.
U.S. District Judge John Tuchi, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, rejected a lawsuit from Lake’s team last week and then moved to fine her attorneys, arguing her allegations of election corruption were not legitimate.
Lake allegedly lost by a razor-thin margin the governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, who in her capacity as secretary of state oversaw the butchered midterm elections and threatened county officials with arrest if they wouldn’t certify her purported win.
“Imposing sanctions, in this case, is not to ignore the importance of putting in place procedures to ensure that our elections are secure and reliable,” Tuchi wrote in his order. “It is to make clear that the Court will not condone litigants ignoring the steps that Arizona has already taken toward this end and furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process.”
Tuchi added that he wanted to “send a message to those who might file similarly baseless suits in the future.”
Lake’s campaign fired back, arguing that her lawsuit was based on credible allegations of election mishandling in Maricopa County.
“This case is not about money or gain,” Lake campaign spokesman Ross Trumble said in a statement. “It was essentially a public interest lawsuit seeking electoral integrity.”
Trumble went on to say that Tuchi’s order was unprecedented.
“It is very, very rare to sanction a party in public interest suits. All in all, this reads like an angry Obama appointee who wants to send a message. The message is if you lose, shut up and don’t come to court. The message is not that you lost a case or acted in bad faith,” Trumble said.
Lake said in a recent interview with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon that she plans to “continue to fight for the people of Arizona” despite Tuchi’s ruling.
“This is not about me. I’ve said this all along; I’m just one voter, but I care deeply about Arizona. It is not fun to be in the middle of this,” Lake said. “But we have no other choice. I have no other choice but to stand up and fight right now for the people of Arizona. If I don’t, who will?”
