Kari Lake Wants a Jury to Decide Her Legal Fate

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake of Arizona has asked for a jury to decide her legal fate after conceding defeat in a defamation lawsuit brought by fellow Republican Stephen Richer.

Richer, the Maricopa County recorder, filed suit against Lake last year after she accused him of being involved in a plot to “rig” the Grand Canyon State’s most recent gubernatorial election, in 2022, when Lake was defeated by Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

Following her defeat, Lake repeatedly called Richer a “crook” and accused him without evidence of crimes like adding hundreds of thousands of fake ballots to the final election tally. The claims against Richer, who said that he suffered severe harassment and threats from Lake supporters as a result, were later dismissed in court as meritless.

Lake, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and his own unproven claims of losing to President Joe Biden due to a “rigged” 2020 presidential election, unsuccessfully attempted to have Richer’s suit tossed by arguing that her allegations were covered by free speech.

With the case headed for trial in the summer following the failure of a final appeal, Lake on Tuesday asked the court to quickly convene a jury to determine the extent of any damages she owes Richer and enter a default judgment against her.

Nonprofit group Protect Democracy, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Richer, said in a release on Tuesday that the default judgment request meant that Lake and co-defendants—her gubernatorial campaign, her husband and her fundraising organization—were “effectively conceding that they acted with ‘actual malice’ when spreading lies about Mr. Richer.”

“After months of doubling down and defending their lies across Arizona, in the media, and on social media, when push came to shove, the Defendants decided to completely back down and concede that their lies were just that: lies,” Richer said in a statement.

“Because of their actions, my family and I have faced an endless barrage of threats— including calls for our execution—I have lost close personal relationships, and I have had my reputation irreparably damaged,” he added. “I have said from the beginning that no one is above the rule of law and today further validates that belief.”

Richer went on to say that he looked “forward to entering the damages phase of this case.”

A Lake official sent Newsweek the following statement via email in response to a request for comment on Tuesday: “Kari maintains she has always been truthful. She will not play the lawfare game. Just like they went after [former] President Trump, they’re now targeting Kari Lake. She will continue to fight for Arizonans.”

Lake shared a video to X, formerly Twitter, that also addressed her decision by calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and claiming that she was attempting to avoid being “distracted from what’s truly important” by conceding defeat.

The Republican Senate candidate compared herself to Trump in the video and asserted that she and the ex-president had become victims of a political “witch hunt” after losing their most recent elections.

“They’ve resorted to filing a punishing lawsuit to try to stop me and bleed me dry,” Lake said. “We’ve all seen how they’re doing it to [former] President Trump … They know they can’t beat either of us fair and square, so they hit us with lawsuits to keep us tied up and off the campaign trail.”

Richer repeatedly mocked Lake for the move and celebrated his victory in a series posts made to X around the same time.

“‘Never Surrender!’ … Lose on motions to dismiss. … “Never Surrender!” … Lose on appeals of motions to dismiss … *Face trial* … ‘Ok, ok, surrender!'” Richer wrote in one post.

“It was a lie. It was always a lie,” he added in another. “She did it to get your $25. Or to fire you up. But it was all a lie. There were no ‘300,000 fraudulent early ballots’ etc. She defamed me. But she also lied to you.”