Kari Lake, a outstanding election denier working for a Senate seat in Arizona, has determined to not contest her legal responsibility in a defamation swimsuit introduced by a Republican election official in Maricopa County.Stephen Richer, who presided over the county’s 2022 election, filed a defamation declare in opposition to Lake in June alleging that she “repeatedly and falsely accused” him of causing her electoral defeat in the race for governor won by Democrat Katie Hobbs.Lake’s legal team on Tuesday filed a default judgment motion that indicated she was not challenging her culpability. She instead seeks to dispute the damages.She also said Richer should have to turn over relevant medical and psychiatric records to show that his health was negatively affected, as he detailed in his lawsuit. Lake requested a jury for the default judgment hearing.Lake, a staunch Trump ally, has repeatedly pushed the lie that she won her 2022 bid for governor, and in doing so she took aim at Richer.The lawsuit alleged that “Richer and his family have been the target of threats of violence, and even death, and have had their lives turned upside down” because of Lake’s “knowing and malicious falsehoods.”The lawsuit pointed to a series of Lake’s election denialism claims, among them that she falsely claimed that Richer had misprinted ballots “so that the tabulators would jam all day long.” In one other occasion, her marketing campaign’s Twitter account claimed that Richer “sabotaged” Election Day.Dozens of vote tabulation machines malfunctioned throughout Arizona’s 2022 election and wouldn’t settle for ballots to learn, which some conservatives falsely pointed to in espousing conspiracy theories. The foundation trigger was in the end traced to adjustments in poll paper.RecommendedLake railed in opposition to Richer’s lawsuit Tuesday in a video assertion on X.”By collaborating on this lawsuit, it might solely serve to legitimize this perversion of our authorized system and permit unhealthy actors to intrude in our upcoming election,” she said. “So I will not be collaborating.”Richer replied to her on X by saying means “she has conceded she has no proof (fact is 100% fast protection to defamation), she has surrendered first modification claims, and she or he has stopped preventing.””However I’m completely happy to begin investigation on damages,” he added. “Reminder that she says this case appears to be like loads like Rudy’s and Trump’s — I’m superb with these ultimate greenback figures.”Longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million final yr in a defamation case over false claims he made about two former election employees in Georgia. Giuliani had beforehand chosen to not contest the declare.Attorneys for Lake and Richer didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark Tuesday evening.Vaughn Hillyard is a correspondent for NBC Information. Alex Tabet is a 2024 NBC Information marketing campaign embed.Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC Information.
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