In a blistering 30-page opinion, a federal judge ordered sanctions
against the attorneys of Kari Lake and Mark Finchem in their lawsuit
against voting machines, hoping to deter "similarly baseless suits in
the future."

Lake and Finchem, Trump-endorsed Republicans who failed in their bids
for governor and secretary of state, filed suit in April in an attempt
to block Maricopa and Pima counties from using any electronic device to
cast or count votes. They asked the court to order the counties to
require paper ballots and conduct a hand count of all the ballots cast.

U.S. District Court Judge John Tuchi dismissed the suit in August,
calling it full of "conjectural allegations of potential injuries."

Before the dismissal, the five members of the Republican-dominated
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors — the defendants in the case — had asked for sanctions for the "numerous false allegations about Arizona elections" the candidates and their attorneys made in their federal
complaint.

In his order granting sanctions on Thursday, Tuchi delivered strong
punches to the arguments that Lake, Finchem and their attorneys put
forth in what he deemed a "frivolous complaint."

While the plaintiffs sought "massive, perhaps unprecedented federal
judicial intervention" to change Arizona's election system before the
recent election, "they never had a factual basis or legal theory that
came anywhere close to meeting that burden," the judge wrote.

He added later in the 30-page order that he would "not condone litigants
... furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust
at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the
democratic process."

Bill Gates, county Board of Supervisors chair, said in a statement the sanctions were a "win for the rule of law" and that they will serve as a consequence for those who file baseless and meritless lawsuits.

There are "too many examples in recent years of attorneys trying to
weaponize the court for political purposes," he said. "It is wrong, it
is unethical, and these attorneys must be held accountable if we are to
protect our democratic republic."

https://news.yahoo.com/furthering-false-narratives-lake-finchem-030507472.html

Hip hip hooray!

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