Still not 'duly elected' ... anything -- Kari Lake, TFG Endorsee

[Ben-Prime]

My only real 'meh' about all this is that dollar amounts will never come out of her pocket, even if she is sanctioned. She has too much grift-armor. This means nothing to her, therefore, unless there are penalties beyond the amounts she can raise with whatever funding apps or pages she is using.

[Reality Check]

I am sure Kari Lake figured out after Maricopa County cited her Tweet referencing Rachael Alexander's Town Hall piece of tripe article that the Tweet was not a good idea. However, as they say, what is on the internet is there forever.

[SuzieC]

I am sure Kari Lake figured out after Maricopa County cited her Tweet referencing Rachael Alexander's Town Hall piece of tripe article that the Tweet was not a good idea. However, as they say, what is on the internet is there forever.

More likely her lawyers figured it out. I think Kari Lake is an unhinged lunatic who is as unmanageable as her god, Trump.

[humblescribe]

Magatmatic is a higher order math - it uses imaginary numbers.

I assume that you are not referring to √-1.

See, the math I use most involves real and imaginary numbers, which combine into complex numbers. Magatmatics uses made-up and imaginary numbers, which combine into simpleton numbers.

I'ma trying my hand at magatmatics with this word problem:

A party is thrown at Merde-Lago. Fifty people are invited. Forty people are there during the event. How many people did not attend the party?

Answer: The party was an overwhelming success with hundreds of people in attendance despite only 50 receiving invitations because everyone wanted to be there.

[Reality Check]

More likely her lawyers figured it out. I think Kari Lake is an unhinged lunatic who is as unmanageable as her god, Trump.

Yes, I was giving Kari way to much credit.

[Reality Check]

Hobbs is asking for over $600,000 in fees.
https://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/h ... ument/4533

Based on the foregoing, the Governor Elect respectfully requests an award of $83,725.50 in definite fees and expenses and an additional $550,210.00 in estimated fees.

[chancery]

So unless there's a local rule exception to Mountain Time or to the meaning of the phrase "close of business," Kari Lake should have filed her opposition to the motions for sanctions and fees nearly an hour ago.

I'm not sure it's a big deal for her to to file late, or to fail to file an opposition at all. It's unlikely that her opposition would have much influence on this extremely discretionary issue. It's also unlikely that the judge would grant the motion simply as a "default," and even if he did, the absence of opposition papers wouldn't change the analysis necessary to justify the dollar amount awarded.

To the extent that anything makes sense about her strategy, it would make more sense for her lawyers to focus on her appeal, for its fund-raising usefulness.

[Reality Check]

Lake's responses. She filed the first document on time but then this corrected response a minute late.

https://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/h ... 9104638921

Original:

https://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/h ... 9109638524

[p0rtia]

Kari and co. continue to pretend that "19 inch ballot" means the exact same thing as "20 inch ballot reduced to about 19 inches by manually selecting print to fit".

Example: "There were no 19 inch ballots printed" is not the same as saying "there were no 20 inch ballots printed that were reduced to about 19 inches by manually selecting print to fit".

Willful ignorance. Not a good argument.

[keith]

my ballot was sent to me in Australia by email.

I printed it on A4 paper and filled it out even though it was so small I had trouble reading it.

I then scanned that ballot to a PDF at A4 and sent it back to Pima County.

I have been assured that Pima County had ZERO problems processing it.

I suppose I could have used A3 paper and scan and got the proper size image, but it didn't occur to me at the time.

[Gregg]

For some reason, I find it deeply satisfying that G. Gordon Liddy's son is leading this charge against the forces of evil. Shows that people can evolve away from their right-wing upbringings.

He's still pretty right wing, he just happens to be both honest and a pretty good attorney.

[Ben-Prime]

my ballot was sent to me in Australia by email.

I printed it on A4 paper and filled it out even though it was so small I had trouble reading it.

I then scanned that ballot to a PDF at A4 and sent it back to Pima County.

I have been assured that Pima County had ZERO problems processing it.

I suppose I could have used A3 paper and scan and got the proper size image, but it didn't occur to me at the time.

The A4 vs US Letter size was a problem for me on a few documents here in the UK, but once I told the damn printer the actual paper size rather than what it thought it was getting, that cleared right up. I'm a techie with a master's degree, and I sometimes forget the paper size thing, so these ballot folks are no mystery to me.

But, like you, I navigated the problem, found a solution.

[p0rtia]

my ballot was sent to me in Australia by email.

I printed it on A4 paper and filled it out even though it was so small I had trouble reading it.

I then scanned that ballot to a PDF at A4 and sent it back to Pima County.

I have been assured that Pima County had ZERO problems processing it.

I suppose I could have used A3 paper and scan and got the proper size image, but it didn't occur to me at the time.

Even the plaintiff's witnesses admitted that even though some ballot images were printed smaller than intended, the ballots were counted (preferably by duplicating the choices onto a properly printed blank ballot and then submitted).

This was seriously the lamest of the many lame election cases I've read. The sanctions question will be interesting, since it relies so much on the This Must Stop for the overall good of the state and country arguement.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

humblescribe: I'ma trying my hand at magatmatics with this word problem:

A party is thrown at Merde-Lago. Fifty people are invited. Forty people are there during the event. How many people did not attend the party?

Answer: The party was an overwhelming success with hundreds of people in attendance despite only 50 receiving invitations because everyone wanted to be there.

Thank you, again, humblescribe, and Congratulations! Your word problem shall be entered in the Example Uses of the Word section in the Fogbow Lexicon and Snarksauras.

[Reality Check]

Kari and co. continue to pretend that "19 inch ballot" means the exact same thing as "20 inch ballot reduced to about 19 inches by manually selecting print to fit".

Example: "There were no 19 inch ballots printed" is not the same as saying "there were no 20 inch ballots printed that were reduced to about 19 inches by manually selecting print to fit".

Willful ignorance. Not a good argument.

Yes, and Blehm's ongoing misstatements about 19" ballots in his questions I believe led to some inconsistent answers that he his now pointing to in his response. Blehm also kept saying "fit to print" over and over. It became like chalk on a blackboard after a while.

I recall that in some states the loser in an election contest pays fees by law. I think that was the case when Norm Coleman filed a contest against Al Franken in Minnesota in 2008 and lost. Apparently this is not the case in Arizona.

[raison de arizona]

FWIW she deleted it off Twitter, but left it up on Truth.

D10F61D5-104C-4920-85B9-9371F9D08EFB.png (329.14 KiB) Viewed 672 times

Also

05D40D0D-DE11-4BF9-AC98-D4A0EED12CC8.png (87.64 KiB) Viewed 660 times

[p0rtia]

Kari and co. continue to pretend that "19 inch ballot" means the exact same thing as "20 inch ballot reduced to about 19 inches by manually selecting print to fit".

Example: "There were no 19 inch ballots printed" is not the same as saying "there were no 20 inch ballots printed that were reduced to about 19 inches by manually selecting print to fit".

Willful ignorance. Not a good argument.

Yes, and Blehm's ongoing misstatements about 19" ballots in his questions I believe led to some inconsistent answers that he his now pointing to in his response. Blehm also kept saying "fit to print" over and over. It became like chalk on a blackboard after a while.

I recall that in some states the loser in an election contest pays fees by law. I think that was the case when Norm Coleman filed a contest against Al Franken in Minnesota in 2008 and lost. Apparently this is not the case in Arizona.

Lake & Co. continue to chastise on Twitter the County witness who, when called as a witness for the plaintiff's case in chief, did not bring up the subject of "print to fit" when answering questions about whether or not any "19 inch ballots" had been printed by mistake (the County witnesses truthful answer was, "no there were not," as all the ballots for the 2022 general election were 20 inch ballots). When the same witness was on the stand on Day 2 as a defense witness, Lake & Co went nuts accusing him of lying because they hadn't apprehended the fact that "19 inch ballot" has a specific meaning to an election official (i.e., a ballot that is designed to be 19 inches in length). The witness explained three times that he had told the truth; eventually plaintiffs got it, and then they hammered him for not bringing up "print to fit" as an explanation for the anomalous ballots. "Why didn't you mention that?" they howled. "You did not ask me about that," the witness explained. It was glorious.

[Chilidog]

I wonder if the threat of sanctions has thrown a monkey wrench into her lawyers plan to appeal the decision.

Shouldn't they be crack-a-lackin on this?

Also don't they have to file lose first at the Appeals Court level?

[p0rtia]

Judge denies request for sanctions/attorneys' fees.

https://arizonaslaw.blogspot.com/2022/1 ... ck-of.html

[Kriselda Gray]

For some reason, I find it deeply satisfying that G. Gordon Liddy's son is leading this charge against the forces of evil. Shows that people can evolve away from their right-wing upbringings.

He's still pretty right wing, he just happens to be both honest and a pretty good attorney.

Which, given his paternal example, is damn near miraculous

[realist]

Judge denies request for sanctions/attorneys' fees.

https://arizonaslaw.blogspot.com/2022/1 ... ck-of.html

His reasoning, compared to his ruling on the merits at trial, is very much several steps backward.

There is no doubt that each side believes firmly in its position with great conviction. The fact that 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. Any legal decision must be based on the law and facts rather than subjective belicfs or partisan opinions, no matter how strongly held. The Courthas heard all the evidence and arguments. The Court has carefully examined and thought through the facts and evidence before it in the motions and at the hearing. THE COURT FINDS that Plaintiff's claims presented in this litigation were not ‘groundlessand brought in bad faith under Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-349(A)(1).

Therefore, IT IS ORDERED denying Defendants’ Motions For Attorney Fees And Sanctions"

[RTH10260]

A bit mean to let the lawyer do extra homework during the holidays and then kick them to the curb

[chancery]

Judge denies request for sanctions/attorneys' fees.

https://arizonaslaw.blogspot.com/2022/1 ... ck-of.html

Local attorney Tom Ryan tells Arizona's Law that Judge Peter Thompson might be trying to discourage Lake from appealing his decision denying her Election Contest.

Certainly plausible.

Also, too, U.S. courts are usually uncomfortable issuing sanctions and awarding attorneys' fees.

[bob]

Judge denies request for sanctions/attorneys' fees.

Except: The judge granted the defendants' motions for costs (for witnesses, essentially) for around $33k.

The judge essentially said the plaintiff's case was non-frivolous but non-meritorious. As part of the non-frivolity, the court noted the plaintiff's expert's testimony. Although not compelling, it was enough to avoid sanctions, i.e., there was a basis for a lawsuit.

This reasoning likely will survive an appeal, but I think it is also bad policy, as it'll be cheaper for future Lakes to just hire an expert (which likely was going to happen anyway) if there's no realistic threat of sanctions.

And, as the blog suggested, this baby splitting is likely intended to discourage anyone from appealing, i.e., if Lake doesn't let this sleeping dog lie and nonetheless appeals (as promised), expect the defendants also to appeal.

[Chilidog]

But at least it says this

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED confirming the election of Katie Hobbs as Arizona
Governor-Elect pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-676(B) and entering final judgment in this matter pursuant
to Rule 54(c), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure.
DATED this 27th day of December 2022.