Kari Lake Election Trial Marred With Embarrassing Mishaps
Former Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate
Kari Lake's election trial was filled with some mishaps on Wednesday as she continues to claim that the 2022 election in the state was stolen from her.
One video shared on social media shows an awkward interaction between Lake's lawyer Bryan Blehm and Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson as the two discuss a voicemail recording and if it was disclosed to the court prior. During the discussion, the judge tells Blehm that he was informed the recording was not uploaded to the court and the defendants can be heard saying that they have not heard the recording either.
"The judge asks if the voicemail has been disclosed or authenticated. Defendants' attorneys say it has not. Lake's attorney, Bryan Blehm, is confident it was disclosed, but can't find the document proving so because this 'last week has been like four months,'" the Democracy Docket wrote in a series of tweets regarding the trial. "Court officials confirm that Lake's attorney did not upload the voicemail recording to the court as evidence. Defendants further state that there's no record of anyone named "Betty" who works for Maricopa County's election department."
Another video shared on social media shows a discussion between Maricopa County Attorney Tom Liddy and one of Lake's witnesses Clay Parikh, where the latter claimed that dozens of ballots were printed in the wrong size. However, Parikh later said that if the ballots are "duplicated correctly and they're configured correctly," they would be counted.
At another point during the trial, there was confusion among Lake's team in regard to a specific witness they wanted to call to the stand. The defendant's legal team can be heard saying that the specific witness was taken off a list to appear during the trial.
Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told
Newsweek on Wednesday that "Lake's lawsuit was frivolous on its face, and I'm surprised the judge didn't dismiss it entirely when he dismissed 8 of the 10 claims."
"With respect to the remaining claims, Lake didn't present any evidence that Maricopa County employees intentionally interfered with election day printers, nor that they violated the ballot chain of custody," Rahmani told
Newsweek, adding that Lake's team will need to provide more conclusive evidence of "intentional wrongdoing" to overturn the results.
Carole Lieberman, forensic psychiatrist and trial expert witness, told
Newsweek that "The judge has given Kari Lake a high bar to reach - having to prove that any errors in the voting were done on purpose, not just by accident."
https://www.newsweek.com/kari-lake-election-trial-marred-embarrassing-mishaps-1768900
nice to see things are going well for kari lake and her clown crew. she's gonna knock this one out of the park i'm sure. its not a nothingburger. its still real to me dammit!