Attorneys for failed Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake dropped their subpoena for Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs’ testimony after the Republican bragged that she would force her testimony, The Arizona Republic reports.
An Arizona judge on Monday dismissed eight of 10 counts in Lake’s lawsuit seeking to overturn her election loss but allowed two to proceed, giving Lake a chance to prove her claim that Maricopa County election officials intentionally botched the election.
"Christmas came early yesterday," Lake bragged during a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. "This is so historic."
The trial is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
"We're taking these bastards to trial," Lake said Tuesday. "We're really excited. We have an excellent case."
Subpoena dropped:
Lake at the Turning Point event bragged that Hobbs can’t “duck out” of testifying and “will have to take the stand.”
But her legal team on Tuesday withdrew its subpoena to force her testimony.
Hobbs’ team argued that Lake’s remaining claims only have to do with Maricopa County election officials and nothing “whatsoever” with Hobbs or “personal knowledge she may have.”
"The voters made their choice clear last month, and we’re confident the will of the voters will prevail when the contest process ends," a Hobbs campaign spokesperson told the Republic.
Trial starts Wednesday:
The trial is set to kick off on Wednesday. Lake’s lawsuit asked the court to declare her the rightful winner or order a new election.
The lawsuit alleges that a Maricopa County employee interfered with ballot printers “resulting in some number of lost votes for Lake.”
She also claims an unknown number of ballots were added to the county’s total by election equipment workers and that chain of custody was not maintained.
Printer problems affected about a third of polling places in the county but election officials said all votes were ultimately counted.
