Opinion: The county is asking a federal judge to sanction the politicians for ‘false allegations’ in their ‘repugnant’ lawsuit calling election security into question.
By EJ Montini| The Arizona Republic
Debunking lies is one thing.
It’s an important thing.
But so, too, is making those who spread lies pay – for real – by taking a big fat bite out of their …. pocketbooks.
Lies and lies and more lies about the 2020 election have been debunked in every which way by all manner of experts and independent evaluators. Even a former congressman, John Shadegg, was appointed as a “special master” in an agreement between the Arizona State Senate and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
A trio of experts selected by Shadegg found what others already knew, that there was no evidence of an internet connection or tampering with vote counting machines, completely debunking a ridiculous conspiracy theory promoted by loyalists to Donald Trump.
Audits didn’t stop Lake and Finchem
Likewise, even the state Senate’s hand-picked auditors, the grossly incompetent Cyber Ninjas, eventually determined that the county’s numbers in favor of now-President Joe Biden were correct.
Still, Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake, and the Republican candidate for secretary of state, Mark Finchem, filed a lawsuit in federal court to ban the use of any machines and require a hand count of ballots, claiming there were numerous security failures and other problems.
Machine ban:When efforts to change voting laws failed, they sued
Maricopa county supervisors, dominated by Republicans, have fired back, asking a federal district court judge to hit Lake, Finchem and their attorneys with financial sanctions.
The county’s attorneys, in papers filed with the court, say that Lake’s and Finchem’s “use of the Court to further a disinformation campaign and false narrative concerning the integrity of the election process in Arizona by asserting demonstrably false allegations is repugnant.
“This improper use of the courts is unacceptable, detrimental to the entire elections process, subjects elections officials and workers to threatening and harassing conduct, and … this court should issue sanctions against Plaintiffs and their counsel to deter future filings of similarly frivolous lawsuits.”
