Maybe it’s time, loser Republicans in Arizona, to fold your circus tent and move on. This week saw a judge in Cochise County rule that the obstructionist supervisors, whose noncompliance threatened to alter election results and lead to possible felony prosecutions, must certify the county’s election or face contempt charges. It took them a few hours to do so. That same day a federal judge for Arizona sanctioned the attorneys representing losers Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, ruling that they had filed frivolous lawsuits against Maricopa County and must pay the court costs for their evidence-lacking buffoonery.
“[T]hey never had a factual basis or legal theory that came anywhere close to meeting that burden,” the judge wrote.
Facts, damn facts! Then today another Maricopa County judge told another loser, Josh Barnett, who finished third in the GOP primary for CD-1, that his lawsuit was premature and baseless. Like just about every other challenge to the 2022 Arizona results, Barnett pointed to the printer problem in Maricopa County.
“The heart of the case is exactly that I cannot tolerate seeing another election run illegally where everything is broken. And all we ask for, as the people … is that we have a legally run election.”
No, nothing was “illegal” and “everything” wasn’t broken. Republicans have latched onto the faded-ink printer problem and won’t let go, even though there is no evidence that the temporary hiccup kept anyone from voting or changed the results. It didn’t matter that professional election deniers were in Phoenix last week to berate Maricopa County supervisors. After listening to four hours of conspiracies and threats and claims that god will punish them, the supervisors certified their vote anyway.
Arizona has run fair and efficient elections for years, with nearly 90 percent of voters casting a mail-in ballot. That explains why Republicans here want to ban it, since the last three statewide cycles were won by Democrats. It was only after trump’s loss in 2020 that “rigged election” became the GOP’s theme song after every loss—and this year those losses were many and consequential (like helping Dems hold the Senate).
Similar to the supervisors in Cochise County, who couldn’t find a lawyer to defend their lawlessness until the very last hour, Barnett had a tough time finding legal counsel as well. He located a guy in New Jersey, Leo Donofrio, who’s been retired for more than a decade, to help pro bono with the briefing, which Barnett failed to submit on time.
[Donofrio] explained that he had not practiced law since his retirement in 2011. Donofrio said he was “simply a blogger and Twitter person…commenting on the situation.”
Heck, I’m simply a blogger (but not a Twitter person), and I could’ve given Josh Barnett free legal advice: a) Other challenges to the Maricopa County vote were dismissed because there is no evidence the printer issue affected anything, b) You’re too early to challenge an election that’s just been certified (the state has a 5-day waiting period).
The judge said Barnett is entitled to refile a complaint later. New Jersey lawyer Donofrio made it clear he’s not representing the losing Republican, he’s just “a blogger” helping out. I’m sure Barnett can find other bloggers or Tweeters or Truthers or a Grumpy Cat (born and raised in Arizona) to provide counsel. Here’s one who seems to be winning a lot lately.
“Kari Lake should be installed as Governor of Arizona. This is almost as bad as the 2020 Presidential Election, which the Unselect Committee refuses to touch because they know it was Fraudulent.” — Donald Trump
Well, that settles it! Pass the ketchup, if there’s any left.
