An Arizona judge has ordered sanctions against Mark Finchem and his attorney over false claims they made about election fraud after Finchem, the Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state, lost his race in November and refused to accept the results.
Weeks after the election, Finchem sued his Democratic opponent, Adrian Fontes, and then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), challenging the results of the vote and requesting that a new election be held. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian tossed his suit in December, saying it was groundless.
Fontes and Hobbs asked the court in December to sanction Finchem, according to the Arizona Republic, saying his case was “a politically motivated weaponization of the legal process meant to perpetuate the dangerous narrative that our elections are unreliable, our elected leaders are corrupt, and our democracy is broken.”
In a new ruling last week, Julian agreed, ordering Finchem and his lawyer, Daniel McCauley III, to cover legal fees for Fontes and Hobbs, who both won their November races and have since assumed new roles as Arizona’s secretary of state and governor, respectively.
In her ruling, Julian noted that Arizona law sought to discourage lawsuits without “legitimate basis in fact or law,” but also emphasized that sanctions should be awarded only in rare cases, so as not to discourage legitimate challenges.
https://wapo.st/3yi92Pv
interesting ruling