Maricopa County Judge Peter Thompson on Tuesday denied the Motions For Attorney Fees and Sanctions but granted Katie Hobbs an award of taxable costs, including witness fees and ballot inspector fees.
Hobbs, who was declared the winner over Kari Lake in the Arizona governor's race, was awarded about $33,000.
(See the full text of Tuesday's ruling here.)
Following Thompson's dismissal of Lake's lawsuit on Saturday, Hobbs had asked for more than $500,000, some $450,000 of which would reportedly go to the Democrat Party’s go-to attorney, Marc Elias and his firm.
Related: Update: Judge dismisses Kari Lake election lawsuit; Rules no intentional misconduct, December 24, 2022
Hobbs, the secretary of state who also oversaw the election, was declared the winner of the gubernatorial contest by about 17,000 votes.
As Rachel Alexander for TownHall reported, Thompson only gave Lake “two days for a trial and issued his ruling immediately afterwards, even though he could have taken several days, and it was one of the biggest, most important cases in the country.”
Alexander added: “Legal experts believe his decision was ghostwritten, they suspect top left-wing attorneys like Marc Elias emailed him what to say.”
Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County have been using Marc Elias to rewrite our elections procedure manual & letting him work behind the scenes as their illegal advisor.
Now she's trying to sanction Lake's attorneys and give him the money. This is mafioso stuff. — Columnated Election Denier (@DominofromAZ) December 27, 2022
Hobbs’s Application for Attorneys’ Fees states, “Pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-349, Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs applies for an order awarding her reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in defense of this action. The definite fees and expenses sought to be recovered equals $83,725.50; the estimated additional fees sought to be recovered equals $550,210.00. This application is supported by (1) the accompanying motion for sanctions and joinder in the Maricopa County Defendants’ memorandum of points and authorities and (2) the attached declarations of Alexis Danneman (“Danneman Declaration”) and Abha Khanna (‘Khanna Declaration’).”
Maricopa County’s Application for Attorneys’ Fees states, “Having established that they are entitled to an award of attorney’s fees under A.R.S. § 12-349, the Maricopa County Defendants seek an award in the amount of $25,050. This includes $18,730 in fees to attorneys from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (“MCAO”), and $6,320 in fees to outside counsel Emily Craiger of the Burgess Law Group.”
This is less than 5% of the amount that Hobbs sought for her attorneys.
.@katiehobbs wants Marc Elias well compensated for helping her destroy free and fair elections in Arizona.
This is an attack on our First Amendment & the rule of law. Who will speak out against it? https://t.co/Uenz1VGko7 — Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) December 27, 2022
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