For Immediate Release
Thursday, November 30th, 2023
Contact: Olivia Taylor-Puckett, otpuckett@azdem.org
Kari Lake Encouraged Cochise Supervisors To Risk Arrest, Now They’re Indicted
Lake: “I wish that one person and one of these board of supervisors would stand up and say, ‘Then come on and arrest me. Bring it.’’‘
ARIZONA -– Kari Lake encouraged the Cochise County Board of Supervisors to risk arrest and not certify the 2022 election results, saying she wished “one of these board of supervisors would stand up and say, ‘Then come on and arrest me. Bring it.’” Yesterday, two Cochise County supervisors were indicted on felony charges of conspiracy and interference with an election officer.
Kari Lake and her gubernatorial campaign, on multiple occasions, called for delaying the certification of the results of Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election, encouraging Maricopa and Pima counties to follow Cochise county. Bryan Blehm, Lake’s attorney who faces potential disbarment, called the grand jury investigation into Cochise County an attempt to “illegally influence the outcome of the primary elections .”
- On October 26th, 2022, Lake praised Cochise County Board of Supervisors for attempting a hand count, which a judge stopped and said the Board had overstepped its legal authority.
- On November 18th, 2022, Lake’s campaign said, “🚨 Breaking 🚨 Cochise County is delaying the certification process until they can assess the accreditation and integrity of their machines. Maricopa County and Pima must do the same.”
- On November 29th, 2022, Lake said “I know in Cochise County, they’re threatening to not certify and they’ve got these, you know, dirty attorneys with the Democrat party down there threatening them […] the Secretary of State, is threatening them — threatening them to certify what they know to be a bad election because she wants to steal this.”
- On November 30th, 2022, Lake’s campaign said, “Thank you for holding the line, Cochise County. Thank you for fighting for those that Maricopa County disenfranchised. #Karizona”
Yesterday, shortly after the indictment was released, Kari Lake retweeted, then deleted, a tweet calling Arizona’s Attorney General a “tyrant.”
Kari Lake continues to pursue overturning the results of the 2022 election, asking to be “declared the rightful governor of Arizona.”
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