Judge denies Maricopa County’s request for sanctions, attorney fees against Kari Lake

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Kari Lake and her legal team will not have to pay sanctions and attorney fees to Maricopa County. On Friday, Judge Peter A. Thompson denied the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office’s request for expenses related to the rejected election lawsuit.

Maricopa County previously filed a request on Tuesday asking for the sanctions because the former news anchor and her team “repeatedly made demonstrably false statements to this Court,” officials said. The county also argued that Lake and her team tried to prolong the proceedings and brought weak arguments and claims to the trial. However, Judge Thompson disagreed with the county’s allegations, saying they didn’t equate to “groundless” claims. “Even if her argument did not prevail, Lake, through her witness, presented facts consistent with and in support of her legal argument,” a portion of the ruling read.

Lake’s final claim in her election lawsuit alleged Maricopa County officials failed to perform any higher-level signature verifications on flagged ballots. However, the claim was rejected on Monday after the court didn’t find clear and convincing evidence.

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