Explosive court documents show that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer admits he wanted to “make life hell” for Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake.
According to a text exchange in the files, Richer also admitted to being vehemently “anti-MAGA.”
Richer, in his role as recorder, is responsible for the ballots – early voting, which includes absentee voting – that could determine whether or not Lake prevails in her tight election race senate.
According to RedState’s latest live voting numbers, Lake trails Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego by less than 33,000 votes with 84% of votes counted. The race was not called.
The Daily Mail has reviewed court documentsincluding a transcript of a June 21 deposition from a defamation case Richer brought against Lake. The lawsuit stems from Lake’s questioning of election integrity, which he says led to threats against him and his family.
During the deposition, Richer is asked about his future career prospects, which include his own run for the U.S. Senate “just to raise the flag for real conservatism and make Kari’s life hell.”
“Why do you want to make Kari Lake’s life hell in March 2023?” asks a lawyer.
Richer replies, “I don’t remember. I don’t think she’s a real conservative.”
Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder, was deposed last June and admitted he wants to do it @KariLakeLife is hell. And he counts ballots! You can’t trust him! pic.twitter.com/SrixigL3CE
– Garret Lewis (@GarretLewis) November 9, 2024
The Maricopa County Recorder asserts extreme bias against Lake and the movement she represents, and strongly reiterates that he is not on the side of the Make America Great Again movement.
“I just don’t think there are enough non-MAGA voters in the primary right now to run against someone as well-known and well-funded as Kari,” Richer told a friend about his own potential challenge to Lake.
“And not only am I not MAGA, I’m also anti-MAGA,” he concludes. “Thoughts?”
In addition to overseeing election results, the county recorder is responsible for “managing voter registration” in Maricopa.
In a report just before Election Day from the Recorder’s Office defended the restoration the registration status of 98,000 people with unconfirmed citizenship in its electoral rolls. The problem was attributed to a data error.
Arizona County defends adding 98,000 people with unconfirmed citizenship to voter rolls https://t.co/D5q5KqUh1u
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 4, 2024
Officials in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county, have long struggled to get ballots counted on time through multiple election cycles.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) criticized the states of Arizona and Nevada after the 2022 midterm elections and asked
Lake, back then, replied to that Rubio asked a “great question.”
Richer isn’t the only Republican official trying to make Ms. Lake’s life miserable. Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit was forced to resign in January after a shocking audio recording was released that captured an attempt to bribe Lake to stay out of politics.
“There are very powerful people who want to keep you out,” DeWit had said, before suggesting she could take lucrative no-show jobs instead. At that point, Lake had only considered running for the Senate seat.
“Just say, is there a number where…” DeWit continues before Lake interrupts: “I can be bought? That’s what it’s all about.”
“You’re going to have to fucking kill me to stop me,” she shot back.
BREAKING: Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit was caught on secret recording trying to bribe Kari Lake not to run for Senate.
Holy shit!
“There are very powerful people who want to keep you out,” he said.
At one point during the secret recording, Lake was asked to name… pic.twitter.com/9r1DoDzITD
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 23, 2024
At one point on the tape, Lake suggests that DeWit expose corruption within the Arizona Republican Party by going public with who asked him to bribe them out of the race.
Shockingly, he said he couldn’t do that for fear of repercussions.
“No, no, no, no, no,” he replies. “Then I turn my key in the car and *boom*.”
Richer, a Republican, has held the position of Maricopa County Recorder since 2020. He deleted his X account two days after this year’s election, citing harassment.
“I was a human punching bag for simply making factual statements that the election was not stolen or that we never got 100% results on election night,” he said the Arizona Republic.
The man who tried to “make Kari Lake’s life hell” couldn’t handle the online heat?
In July, Richer lost his primary to Republican challenger Justin Heap, who was supported by the far-right Freedom Caucus and other conservative groups. His term ends on January 1, 2025.
