Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has sued over her election loss last November, revealed on Friday the “smoking gun” she had been teasing the day before.
Following up on an earlier tweet she posted about dropping “big news,” the Republican wrote, “Maricopa County has confirmed what we all knew to be true: Ballot signatures DO NOT MATCH. Election Officials brazenly HIDING EVIDENCE from us.”
“This is the smoking gun,” she continued. “Unfortunately for them, I’m not giving up—even if that means legally forcing them to hand over evidence.” Lake did not provide any additional information to back up her statement.
Her comments appeared to refer to a win that she was handed by the Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday. The court accepted her argument that lower courts erroneously dismissed her legal effort to challenge the results of the 2022 gubernatorial election, ruling in her favor for one of seven claims. The court sided against her in the other six.
Maricopa County has confirmed what we all knew to be true:
Ballot signatures DO NOT MATCH.
Election Officials brazenly HIDING EVIDENCE from us.
This is the smoking gun. Unfortunately for them, I’m not giving up — even if that means legally forcing them to hand over evidence. https://t.co/feDWyYfhNS
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 31, 2023
Lake, a staunch Donald Trump ally who was endorsed by him and has become a leading figure in the GOP since her November defeat, has insisted that voting irregularities cost her the race against Democrat Katie Hobbs, who won by over 17,000 votes. Hobbs was inaugurated as governor in January.
Lake had previously been dealt two blows from a lower court in Maricopa County, as well as the Arizona Court of Appeals, which both rejected her lawsuit claiming there was misconduct by county election officials in Arizona’s most populous county.
Wednesday’s order sent one of her claims back to the lower court. It does not affirm that ballot signatures do not match, as Lake said Friday, but asked a trial court to conduct an additional review of Maricopa County’s signature verification procedures on mail-in ballots.
Newsweek reached out by email to Lake and to Maricopa County’s public information office for comment.
While it’s unlikely the lawsuit will put Lake in the governor’s office, she’s already hinted that she’s prepared to mount another political campaign—this time for the U.S. Senate.
On Monday, she told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on his podcast that she will “seriously consider” running for Senator Kyrsten Sinema‘s seat in 2024, based on hypothetical polling that has suggested she could be a formidable challenger.
“I don’t know politically what I will do next,” Lake told Kirk. “I never had any desire to get into politics, and the people of Arizona recruited me to run for governor, and we have led an amazing movement of ‘We the People.’”
Known for supporting Trump’s election denialism, she’s also been floated as a possible running mate in his 2024 campaign to regain the White House. But it is unclear how his indictment on Thursday will affect his latest presidential ambition.
In response to the news of Trump’s impending arraignment on criminal charges in New York City, Lake tweeted, “They just indicted President Trump. Unfortunately for them, this will only make him stronger. I didn’t think I could possibly support him more, but this political Witch Hunt only strengthens our resolve to fight.”
She added, “We’ve got your back, Mr. President.”
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