Arizona Election Attorney Says Trial Court Judge in Kari Lake’s Case Should Consider Recusing Himself from Hearing Case Again

The Arizona Supreme Court rejected part of the lower two courts’ rulings throwing out Kari Lake’s election contest, remanding it back to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson for a new trial, but there are concerns Thompson will not provide a fair trial. An election attorney in Phoenix who prefers not to be identified due to fear of retaliation, told The Arizona Sun Times that due to the perception that Thompson might be biased, he should consider recusing himself if he cannot otherwise overcome that perception of bias.

The attorney said, “The courts rarely rule in favor of these Republican election challenges, so the fact that both the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed some of Thompson’s opinion raises a concern that Thompson may have overreached, overstepped, and some may believe that’s a sign of bias. And unless he believes he can overcome that concern with not only assurances of fairness, but actual rulings guaranteeing fairness to Lake including access to ALL requested signature verification discovery, then he should seriously consider recusing himself; otherwise, it may hurt the chances of him providing a fair trial if he doesn’t and it turns out he’s biased. Remember, everyone across the country is watching this case. He should do the right thing either by guaranteeing fairness, or put everyone at ease by removing himself.” 

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Judge Denies Motion for Sanctions Against Kari Lake, Will Still Require Awarding of Taxable Costs

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson has officially ruled against the defendant’s motions for sanctions against Kari Lake in her election challenge, stating that her claims were not made in bad faith.

“Plaintiff failed to meet the burden of clear and convincing evidence required for each clement of AR.S. § 16-672 does not equate 10 a finding that her claims were, or were not, ‘groundless and presented in bad faith,” wrote Thompson.

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Kari Lake Says Appeal Coming Following Dismissal from Superior Court Judge

Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake had her election challenge completely dismissed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson Saturday. Following the ruling, Lake tweeted that an appeal would be coming.

“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law. This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling,” tweeted Lake.

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Day Two of Kari Lake Election Challenge Trial Sees More Witnesses, Closing Arguments from Both Sides

The court battle challenging the validity of the certified outcome of Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election entered its second day Thursday under Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, with attorneys for Republican Kari Lake, Democrat Katie Hobbs, and Maricopa County presenting their final arguments in the trial. Lake seeks to either be declared the winner by the court in the gubernatorial race, in which she currently trails by roughly 17,000 votes, or require a new election. To do this, Lake’s team has to clear the high burden of demonstrating that intentional wrongdoing changed election outcomes. On the final day of the trial, Lake’s team brought in one witness, while the defendants presented four. Richard Baris The plaintiff’s first and final witness called to the stand was Richard Baris, director of Big Data Poll. He stated that Lake did not hire him before the election. “In over six years since we began releasing public polling on a steady basis in 2016, we have not inaccurately predicted the winner, outside of a sampling error, in a single poll. Not one,” said Baris. He conducted an exit poll in the Arizona 2022 General Election. Yet, on the morning of November 8th, he received…

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Day One of Kari Lake Election Contest Trial Sees Testimony from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Election Integrity Expert Heather Honey

The first of two days of oral arguments from Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake’s challenge of the 2022 general election outcome began Wednesday morning, overseen by Judge Peter Thompson in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Testimonies were heard from several officials and experts.

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Legal Throwdown in Arizona: Democrat Attorney Marc Elias Says Kari Lake Must Prove Alleged Wrongdoing Altered Outcome of Election

Kari Lake scored a significant legal victory on Monday when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled that two counts of her election contest against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will go to trial this week. The two day trial is expected to begin on Wednesday, and the judge’s ruling is expected by January 2, 2023, one day before the scheduled January 3 inauguration of Governor-elect Hobbs.

But the standard required to secure the legal remedy she seeks in her lawsuit – either a declaration that she, and not Democrat nominee Katie Hobbs, is the victor in the November 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election or an order that Maricopa County must redo the gubernatorial election – remains high.

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Judge Rules Kari Lake Election Contest Will Go to Trial

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled late Monday that Kari Lake’s election contest lawsuit will go to trial on Wednesday.

The judge’s ruling came hours after attorneys for the defendants–Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors–and the plaintiff, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, delivered oral arguments in court on both sides of the defendants’ motion to dismiss all ten counts set forward in Lake’s 70 page lawsuit.

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Kari Lake Scores Major Win as Arizona Judge Orders Trial on Election Challenge

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election challenge will head to trial after a judge declined to dismiss her case and allowed the suit to proceed.

Lake announced the development via Twitter, saying “Katie Hobbs attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand & testify. Buckle up, America. This is far from over.”

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Judge Holds Emergency Court Hearing over Election Lawsuit, Calls for Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs to Appear

Arizona Judge Peter Thompson issued an order Tuesday for Arizona gubernatorial nominees Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs to appear in court regarding the election lawsuit filed by Lake.

“The Court has reviewed Plaintiffs’ Verified Statement of Election Contest filed December 9, 2022. Because this matter is an election challenge, the return hearing will be set on an accelerated basis,” according to Thompson.

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