Kari Lake's future hangs in the balance as judge weighs defamation suit

An Arizona judge is poised to decide soon whether a defamation lawsuit filed against failed gubernatorial candidate turned Senate candidate Kari Lake can move forward, reported The Arizona Republic on Tuesday.

The lawsuit was brought by Stephen Richer, a Republican elections official in Maricopa County who says that Lake has lied about him and injured his reputation.

"Lake says Richer is seeking to silence her and other election integrity critics. Attorney Jen Wright argued in court on Tuesday that Lake's statements, while exaggerated, are ultimately based on 'provable facts' and that Richer is subject to 'harsh criticism' as a public official," reported Sasha Hupka. "Lake and her attorneys filed two motions to dismiss the case. One was filed under Arizona's anti-SLAPP law, originally passed in 2006 and revised last year. An Arizona court has yet to rule on the statute's new framework for establishing what defamation cases should be dismissed outright."

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SLAPPs, or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, are nuisance suits filed for the purpose of intimidating someone to silence their political speech. Several states have passed legislation allowing people who can demonstrate lawsuits against them are a SLAPP to have the case summarily thrown out or reclaim attorneys' fees from the plaintiff.

Lake may struggle to prove Richer's suit is meritless, though. She has made several claims against him, including that he “intentionally printed 19-inch images on 20-inch ballots to sabotage the 2022 general election,” that she went on to admit were false. She claims she has a right to make the claims even if they are not true.

A former news anchor with close ties to former President Donald Trump, Lake has never conceded her election loss to then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who's now serving as Arizona's governor.