The election official overseeing Maricopa County, Arizona's most populous county, had previously said that he intended to run for Senate “to make life hell” for Republican candidate Kari Lake, court documents show.
Stephen Richer’s remarks came from the transcript of a June 21 deposition in a defamation case he brought against Lake, The Daily Mail reported.
Richer, who is set to leave the office at year-end, is in charge of ballots that will have a huge impact on whether Lake or Democrat Ruben Gallego wins the Senate seat vacated by Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
As of 3 p.m. on Sunday, Lake trailed Gallego by less than 50,000 votes. Less than 90 percent of the ballots had been counted at the time.
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During the deposition, Richer was asked by Lake’s lawyer to review a communication between himself and a friend named “Ben Blink.”
“Mr Blink says what options are intriguing you?’ says lawyer William Fischbach.
“And your response if kind of a laundry list here of bullet points: Get out of politics permanently; get out of politics temporarily; run for re-election as a Republican; run for re-election as an independent; run for mayor if no Kate; and then finally run for U.S. Senate, just to fly the flag for real conservatism and make life hell for Kari.”
Richer confirmed he made the comments but said he wasn't serious about running for Senate.
“Why would you want to make life hell for Kari Lake in March of 2023?” asks Fischback.
“I don’t remember,” Richer replies. ‘I don’t think she’s a real conservative.”
"Stephen Richer is a national disgrace," former Trump White House adviser Garrett Ziegler said.
Meanwhile, Republicans are calling for an investigation after ballot totals in the Lake-Gallego race were changed while ballots were still being counted.
Former Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington noted in a social media post: "Pima County added 14,666 ballots to its total of uncounted ballots on Nov. 8. This is obvious fraud. The totals CANNOT change. Investigate now!"
Harrington noted that Yuma County had also added ballots during counting:
"Outstanding votes almost DOUBLED from 11/7 to 11/8. How does Yuma go from 9,861 votes left to 18,011? And how is it Saturday night after the Election and we still don’t have the 'results'? Because they’re stealing it from @KariLake."
This is targeted, RICO Industrial Level Ballot production. Trump needs to announce now, that on Day 1, FBI and DOJ priorities will be turned upside and Operation Truth will descend on Arizona to review every ballot and every ballot dump. Every Recorder and State Government… https://t.co/nmqateFbFv
— ColonelRETJohn2 (@ColonelRETJohn2) November 10, 2024
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