The outgoing Arizona elections director who oversees voting in the state's most populous county told a friend last year that he wanted to run for Republican candidate Kari Lake's Senate race “to make his life hell.” That's revealed in explosive court documents.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's fiery remarks came from a June 21 deposition in a Donald Trump-backed defamation lawsuit against Lake. Daily Mail reported.
Richer, who will retire at the end of the year, is in charge of the votes that will decide whether he wins a close race against Democrat Ruben Gallego, a former TV anchor, raising questions about his ability to run a fair election.
During the deposition, Richer was asked by Lake's attorney to review communications between him and a friend named “Ben Brink.”
“What options did Mr. Brink say interest you?'' attorney William Fischbach said.
“And your response, although it's a bullet point, is, 'Retire from politics permanently. Leave politics temporarily. Run for re-election as a Republican. Run for re-election as an independent. Without Kate. He ended up running for the U.S. Senate just to fly the flag of true conservatism and make Cali's life hell.”
Richer acknowledged that he had made the remarks, but said he had never made any serious moves toward running for the Senate.
“Why do we want to put Lake Kali in a hellish situation in March 2023?” asks Fishback.
“I don't remember,” Richer replies. “I don't think she's a true conservative.”
Lake claims he lost the 2022 gubernatorial race to Democrat Katie Hobbs because: Ballot printer issues Some polling places in Maricopa County were the result of intentional fraud, and the county Failed to verify signatures on mail-in ballots As required by law.
Her legal challenge to overturn the election results failed.
Mr. Lake and Mr. Richer could not be reached for comment.
