Arizona governor-elect asks court to sanction election denier Lake - Reuters

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Arizona's Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs asked a tribunal connected Monday to authorisation defeated Republican gubernatorial campaigner Kari Lake implicit her failed effort to overturn the state's predetermination results.

An Arizona judge connected Saturday rejected Lake's suit that challenged the counting and certification of the November electoral contention successful a bid to beryllium declared the victor contempt a deficiency of grounds of elector fraud.

Hobbs joined a question by Maricopa County for sanctions connected Lake and her attorneys successful which the county's lawman lawyer Thomas P. Liddy wrote Lake filed a "groundless" suit for a "frivolous pursuit," tribunal documents showed.

"Enough truly is enough," Liddy wrote successful the question filed connected Monday. "It is past clip to extremity unfounded attacks connected elections and unwarranted accusations against elections officials."

Maricopa County's question had "no ground successful instrumentality oregon fact," Lake's lawyers wrote successful a effect filed Monday evening, asking the tribunal to contradict the petition for sanctions.

"Trust successful the predetermination process is not furthered by punishing those who bring morganatic claims arsenic plaintiff did here," the tribunal papers filed by Lake's lawyers said. "In fact, sanctioning plaintiff would person the other effect."

The sanctions would beryllium successful the signifier of a fiscal punishment imposed by a justice for usurpation of a tribunal regularisation oregon misconduct.

Lake's suit had targeted Hobbs, who is presently Arizona's caput of authorities and becomes politician adjacent week, on with apical officials successful Maricopa County. Her suit claimed "hundreds of thousands of amerciable ballots infected the election" successful Maricopa, the state's astir populous county.

In a abstracted tribunal filing, Hobbs besides asked the Superior Court successful Maricopa County to grant her implicit $600,000 to compensate for fees and expenses accrued successful defending against Lake's lawsuit.

Lake, a erstwhile tv quality anchor, was 1 of the astir high-profile Republican candidates successful the midterm elections to clasp erstwhile Republican President Donald Trump's mendacious claims of elector fraud successful 2020.

She mislaid the governor's contention to Hobbs but refused to concede and continued making unconfirmed claims astir predetermination improprieties connected her Twitter feed.

Lake was 1 of the astir salient of the Trump-aligned Republican candidates who mislaid battleground authorities races successful the midterm elections.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil successful Ottawa; Editing by Mary Milliken and Alistair Bell

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