Secretary of State Katie Hobbs could be called to testify
A Maricopa County, Arizona judge ruled that two out of 10 claims brought by GOP gubernatorial candidate that challenges Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs’ election win can go to trial.
Maricopa County Superior Judge Peter Thompson dismissed (pdf) the eight other claims in Lake’s lawsuit, ruling they didn’t meet the criteria to bring election challenges under state law. Filed earlier this month, Lake’s suit asked the judge to either declare her the victor or hold another vote in Maricopa County.
Lake’s remaining claims alleging intentional interference with ballot printers and chain-of-custody problems will be heard later this week. The parties will meet on Tuesday to allow Lake’s team to inspect a small sample of Maricopa County ballots.
“Defendants dispute the lack of compliance with chain of custody laws and claim that Plaintiff has misunderstood the forms required. As presented, whether the county complied with its own manual and applicable statutes is a dispute of fact rather than one of law. This is true as to whether such lack of compliance was both intentional and did in fact result in a changed outcome,” Thompson wrote.
The judge dismissed a number of claims, including Lake’s assertion that Hobbs, in her capacity as secretary of state, and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer engaged in censorship by targeting social media posts for possible removal by Twitter.
But Hobbs, according to the judge, could be called to testify in her capacity as Arizona’s secretary of state, a position she currently holds. Earlier in the week, lawyers Hobbs submitted a motion to quash attempts to testify in her official capacity.
Following Thompson’s ruling, Lake wrote on Twitter, “Our Election Case is going to trial. Katie Hobbs attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand & testify.” She then added: “Arizona, We will have our day in court!”
