Ariz. Gov. Hobbs Calls for Sanctions Against Lake

Facts

• On Monday, Arizona Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs, who is also the state's sec. of state, filed sanctions against Kari Lake, seeking legal fees for her attorneys and the county's lawyers less than 48 hours after a Maricopa County judge ruled against Lake in the Republican challenger’s lawsuit.
• Lake filed suit this month over ballot printer problems and ballot chain of custody misconduct, which she alleged cost her a victory in her race against Hobbs. But judge Peter Thompson ruled that her witnesses lacked knowledge of intentional misconduct.
• Maricopa County is seeking over $25k to cover its own legal fees, while Hobbs, whose 17k-vote win was secured by the court ruling, is asking for a separate $550.2k in attorney fees from Lake, more than $450k of which to go to Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias’s firm.
• The county's filing states that "enough really is enough," adding that Lake's lawsuit "was brought without any legitimate justification." The county also accused Lake of trying to "fundraise" off her efforts to overturn the election and use the court "to harass political opponents."
• The fees will cover Hobbs' expenditures after hiring Coppersmith Brockelman PLC attorney Andrew Gaona, from whom she received the drafting of a motion to dismiss, aid in preparing for the evidentiary hearing, and participation in the two-day evidentiary hearing.
• Under Arizona law, Hobbs and the county may be awarded "reasonable attorney’s fees" if Lake's lawsuit was brought "without substantial justification."

Sources: NBC, Daily Caller, Market Watch, New York Post, FOX News, and Newsweek.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Bipartisan Report. Lake, like every other Arizona Republican who challenged election results and lost, made baseless claims from the get-go and is now facing the consequences. It’s bad enough to sow doubt about election integrity via social media, but making such egregious accusations through the legal system is indefensible. Hopefully, the court will side with Hobbs and show election deniers what happens when you lie about results.
• Republican narrative, as provided by PJ Media. Aside from potential sanctions against Lake, the real news here is that this was a sham trial from the beginning. Despite Lake providing evidence of malfunctioning vote tabulators at a significant portion of majority-Republican polling sites, Thompson chalked it up to coincidence. Two days wasn’t nearly enough time to thoroughly investigate the matter, but it seems the court had no desire to conduct a more in-depth probe.