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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
An Arizona Supreme Court panel gave the state bar the green light to proceed with the cases after determining that there was “probable cause” to file complaints against Kari Lake’s former attorneys.
After her narrow loss to Katie Hobbs in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race—in which she ran as a Republican—Lake, a former television anchor, filed numerous lawsuits challenging her loss. Maricopa County, the biggest county in the state, was the site of allegations of fraud, and she challenged those results by asking the court to nullify the certified election results.
Andrew Parker defended Lake and Mark Finchem, a former candidate for Arizona secretary of state, in a separate case that challenged the use of voting machines in Arizona before the 2022 elections. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out that case in October 2023. Bryan Blehm and Kurt Olsen represented her in that case, Newsweek reported.
In response to a claim that more than 35,000 ballots were fraudulently cast in the 2022 election, the Supreme Court’s Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee will allow formal complaints against Blehm and Olsen. The Arizona Supreme Court penalized them in May 2023 for bringing the same false claim before the court once more.
“Although Lake may have permissibly argued that an inference could be made that some ballots were added, there is no evidence that 35,563 ballots were, and, more to the point here, this was certainly disputed,” Chief Justice Robert Brutinel wrote in the sanctions order.
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An additional complaint has been filed against Blehm regarding a post he made on X (formerly Twitter) in which he asserts that a Supreme Court Task Force on Countering Disinformation, which is headed by Brutinel, was established as part of a CIA-induced attempt to conceal cases that reveal election fraud.
Blehm has refuted any wrongdoing and wrote, “My tweet was intended to say that the Arizona judiciary was hoodwinked by the national security apparatus specifically to limit attorney speech and willingness to bring valid claims on behalf of their clients.”
The claims that Olsen and Parker made in court, such as that Maricopa County’s voting systems are Internet-connected and that Arizona does not use paper ballots, are the basis of the separate complaint against them. The Arizona Senate requested an investigation, and the results showed that these assertions were unfounded.
After an intake lawyer reviews a case and refers it for a screening investigation, the third step in the Arizona attorney disciplinary process is the probable cause step.
Disciplinary agreements or formal hearings presided over by a judge could now resolve the grievances.
Beyond the legal proceedings, Lake received a significant endorsement in her bid to unseat Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema from the U.S. Senate.
On Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who is seen as a supporter of former President Donald Trump’s America-centric policy agenda, announced he would support Lake ahead of what is expected to be a very closely watched race in a new swing state.
“Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living. Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority,” Cotton told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“I am grateful for the endorsement of Sen. Cotton, someone who served our country honorably in the military and has been a conservative warrior in the Senate. I look forward to working with Sen. Cotton to secure our border and get America back on track from Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s far-left agenda,” Lake told the outlet.
Sinema has yet to announce that she is running for reelection. Rep. Reuben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has also launched a bid for her seat.
