Judge minces no words: Kari Lake basically admitted she defamed Stephen Richer

The judge hearing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s defamation suit against failed Republican governor candidate Kari Lake wasn’t in the mood to mince words.

Judge Jay Adleman said that when Lake’s lawyers said she wouldn’t challenge Richer’s claims — essentially admitting her guilt (while pretending not to in public) — there was no going back.

The judge pointedly noted that “a defaulted party loses all rights to litigate the merits of the cause of action.”

In response, Richer said, “We now have a judgment saying that Kari Lake lied about me, lied to the world, lied to Arizona, lied about the 2022 election.”

The default amounts to an admission that Lake defamed Richer.

How much will Lake have to pay Richer?

So, the next step will be for the parties to argue over how much Richer was harmed and how much that should cost Lake in cold hard cash.

All the rest, all of Lake’s ongoing bluster, is just that: BS.

There are many, many examples of what she said about Richer, and how it harmed his reputation and, given the death threats he received, could have caused harm to him and his family.

Why Lake's defamation loss: Is a win for her

On a show with Trump toady Steve Bannon, for example, Lake said in part:

“I stand by everything I’ve said, by the way. I’ve always been truthful in everything I’ve said about this rigged election and they want to find … they want to get a jury and find me guilty.

“And I’m not going to go into this without fighting because I have a right to speak out … We’ll be subpoenaing all kinds of records from Stephen Richer pertaining to this rigged election that he was part and parcel to.”

In the end, whose corruption was exposed?

She then doubled down on that claim on Twitter (now X), posting the Bannon interview and adding:

“Well, discovery goes both ways. I TRULY look forward to that. I stand by everything I’ve said. I’ve always been truthful when I’ve talked about elections. This crooked political machine will not stop me from exposing their corruption & fighting to take our country back.”

In the end, none of that happened.

Lake did not stand by what she said. Not in court, where it matters. Just the opposite.

And as for being exposed, well, Lake just did that to herself.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake essentially admitted to lying about Stephen Richer