Arizona judge orders Kari Lake to compensate Katie Hobbs for some fees for election lawsuit, but declines to sanction her - CNN

CNN  — 

A Maricopa County justice connected Tuesday ordered Arizona Republican Kari Lake to compensate Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs for immoderate ineligible fees related to the predetermination lawsuit Lake had brought challenging her loss, but helium stopped abbreviated of sanctioning Lake for filing the lawsuit.

Judge Peter Thompson had rejected Lake’s suit connected Saturday, concluding that determination wasn’t wide oregon convincing grounds of misconduct and affirming Hobbs’ victory. That Christmas Eve ruling was a large decision for Lake, who lost to Hobbs by astir 17,000 votes successful November and sued successful an effort to overturn the election.

Attorneys for Hobbs – the existent caput of authorities – had charged that Lake and her lawyers knew their challenges to the predetermination could not beryllium substantiated, which would interruption ineligible ethic rules. They wanted sanctions against Lake and her team. Thompson did not agree. “The Court finds that Plaintiff’s claims presented successful this litigation were not groundless and brought successful atrocious faith,” helium wrote connected Tuesday.

But helium ordered Lake to wage Hobbs $33,040.50 successful compensation for adept witnesser fees and again reaffirmed the predetermination of Hobbs, who volition beryllium sworn successful connected January 5.

The caller rulings are the latest rebuke to predetermination deniers nationwide and harken backmost to the agelong watercourse of ineligible losses erstwhile President Donald Trump suffered successful 2020 arsenic helium sought to situation his predetermination loss. Maricopa County, which spans the Phoenix country and houses a bulk of Arizona’s population, was a hotbed of unfounded allegations of fraud successful the midterms and 2020 election.

In a tweet aft the Saturday ruling, Lake, who sat successful the courtroom during the proceedings but did not testify, said she would entreaty the determination “for the involvement of restoring religion and honesty successful our elections.”

A erstwhile Arizona tv journalist, Lake built her run astir her enactment for Trump’s lies astir wide predetermination fraud successful the 2020 statesmanlike election. She had since doubled down, falsely claiming she won the 2022 election.

Thompson had antecedently dismissed 8 counts alleged successful Lake’s suit anterior to trial, ruling that they did not represent due grounds for an predetermination contention nether Arizona law, adjacent if true. But helium had permitted Lake an effort to beryllium astatine a two-day proceedings past week 2 different counts involving printers and the ballot concatenation of custody successful Maricopa County.

According to Thompson’s Saturday ruling, Lake’s squad had to amusement that idiosyncratic intentionally caused the county’s ballot-on-demand printers to malfunction – and arsenic a effect of that, capable “identifiable” votes were mislaid to alteration the result of the election.

“Every azygous witnesser earlier the Court disclaimed immoderate idiosyncratic cognition of specified misconduct. The Court cannot judge speculation oregon conjecture successful spot of wide and convincing evidence,” Thompson wrote.

This communicative has been updated with further information.