Kari Lake declines to defend her statements in a defamation case
CNN
Kari Lake, a Republican Senate candidate from Arizona who has advanced election conspiracy theories, is asking a judge to decide whether she must pay damages to a top county election official who sued her for defamation – after opting not to defend her statements in the case.
Kari Lake, a Republican Senate candidate from Arizona who has advanced election conspiracy theories, is asking a judge to decide whether she must pay damages to a top county election official who sued her for defamation – after opting not to defend her statements in the case. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer last year sued Lake – who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor in 2022 – arguing that her repeated false claims of election malfeasance made him and his family the targets of relentless threats. Richer and Lake are both Republicans, and his lawsuit marked an aggressive step by Richer to confront Lake’s election claims – which have been rejected by the courts. Lawyers defending Lake, her gubernatorial campaign and an aligned nonprofit group on Tuesday asked a judge to schedule a hearing to determine what, if any, damages are owed to Richer. In a statement, Richer said Lake and her allies had capitulated. “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,” he said.
Former American Media Inc. chairman David Pecker took jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money case inside how he paid for Karen McDougal’s story to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump – and how his decision not to pay for Stormy Daniels’ story led to Michael Cohen ultimately paying for it.