JUST IN: Kari Lake’s Husband Files Motion to Dismiss RINO Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s Defamation Lawsuit After He Destroyed Evidence, Refused to Comply With Discovery – FILING AND DEPOSITION INCLUDED
Kari Lake’s husband, Jeff Halperin, has filed a Motion to Dismiss in self-proclaimed “Anti-MAGA” RINO Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s lawsuit against Lake, Halperin, and Lake’s campaign as a sanction for Richer’s repeated discovery violations in the ongoing lawsuit.
The filing begins by exposing the true motive behind this lawsuit by the anti-Lake official and Democrat operatives at Soros-backed Protect Democracy:
“This Maricopa County official seethed privately with a desire to ‘make life hell’ for Kari Lake. This Maricopa County official envied Lake’s name recognition and popularity because it was superior to his own. This Maricopa County official abandoned a run for U.S. Senate believing he could not beat Lake in a primary. This Maricopa County official was the subject of criticism, ridicule, and even death threats long before Lake uttered a single word about him. This Maricopa County official makes $76,600 annually but is represented by twelve lawyers: five from a Manhattan-based Am Law 200 law firm, four from a Washinton, D.C. nonprofit, two local counsel, and a Harvard Law School Professor who in 2021 was White House Counsel and Special Assistant to President Joseph R. Biden. This Maricopa County official also probably couldn’t afford the $25,345.50 he was ordered by the Court to pay to a third party subpoena recipient, but his lawyers have refused to disclose the financial terms of their engagement.”
The Gateway Pundit recently reported that deposition transcripts in the case reveal that Richer, a total Lake hater, contemplated running for Senate to “make life hell for Kari Lake” and admitted that he is “anti-MAGA,” according to private text messages.
Additionally, Richer's text messages revealed that Richer admitted Lake is a political "behemoth." His deposition further reveals that he internally polled his popularity and found that Lake's is far above his own. Read the full deposition below. Starting on page 99 of Exhibit A, "Deposition of Stephen Isidore Richer," Richer's true motives are revealed.
Previously, former Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem, State Sen. Anthony Kern, and US Rep. Paul Gosar were forced to pay $75,000 in attorneys fees after a Judge ruled against them in a defamation lawsuit against former State Rep. Charlene Fernandez. According to the lawsuit, Fernandez “co-authored, signed, and published a false and misleading Criminal Referral Letter to the Acting Attorney General of the United States,” claiming the legislators “through words and conduct, aided and abetted sedition, treason or any other federal crimes.” However, the Judge ruled that Fernandez’s conduct was protected by the First Amendment, and the lawsuit was “filed against a political opponent primarily for purposes of harassment.”
Having a goal to make a political opponent's life hell and suing them for criticizing you, like Richer did, sure sounds like harassment, if not an attempt to interfere in the election.
The Motion further outlines three reasons why dismissal is warranted, including Richer's violation of a court order requiring him to disclose "a computation and measure of each category of damages,” as well as his failure to disclose the existence of a taxpayer-funded "data mining operation," which he and office staff used to compile news stories and social media about him, seemingly for campaign purposes and evidence in the lawsuit.
Another violation of discovery rules is the recent deletion of Richer's X/Twitter account, causing "any relevant discovery in Richer's X account" to be lost. In a cryptic and bizarre statement to The Gateway Pundit, Richer explained why he deleted his page right in the middle of an election, saying, "I get to do what makes me happy now.”
The Motion also argues that the lawsuit is "farcical" and seeks to blame Kari Lake for harm to Richer's already tarnished reputation, which he created on his own by opposing GOP efforts to audit the 2020 election and attacking President Trump and MAGA repeatedly.
Richer has been openly hostile to Trump and his supporters, which, as seen on November 5, 2024, represents the majority of Arizona.
Halperin's attorney also notes that Lake's "intentional" and "strategic" default in the lawsuit earlier this year was meant to keep Lake on the campaign trail and oblige Richer to produce all discover to prove his alleged damages, an obligation that he "shirked and evaded." Richer's refusal to comply with discovery requests and destruction of relevant evidence "permits dismissal as a sanction," Halperin's attorney argues.
Read the full filing and deposition transcript below:
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