Kari Lake’s lawyers could face discipline over election cases

A committee overseeing attorneys in Arizona has found probable cause that lawyers who represented Kari Lake in election cases should face discipline.

The Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee filed the probable cause orders against lawyers Andrew Parker, Kurt Olsen and Bryan Blehm after the State Bar of Arizona conducted its initial investigations.

Each lawyer has been sanctioned by Arizona judges for cases where Lake challenged the election results after she lost to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2022.

The order from the committee allows the state bar to formally file complaints against the lawyers and pursue further actions. The lawyers could settle the complaints, which could otherwise lead to public discipline. Olsen, who is not licensed in the state, could face discipline up to reprimand, The Arizona Republic reported.

Bar counsel members Hunter Perlmeter and Kelly Goldstein wrote to the lawyers that “to prevent unnecessary delay” they would be continuing to prepare the adjudication file but that they could “save time and costs” by agreeing to discipline by consent and by participating in a formal statement for the case.

In an order from May, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered Lake’s team, including Blehm and Olsen, to pay a sanction totaling $2,000 for making false claims about voter fraud in the 2022 election.

Olsen was among a group of lawyers for Lake previously ordered to pay $122,200 in sanctions after a federal court in Arizona found the lawsuit to be “frivolous.”

Another order from the committee found probable cause against Parker and Olsen in a case they filed on behalf of Lake and former secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem that challenged the use of electronic machines counting ballots in the election where they both were running.  

Lake, a former television news anchor, brought the suit against the state in April 2022 demanding that election officials use alternative methods to count ballots. It was later thrown out.

Lake has lost two trials that challenged her loss to Hobbs. She claimed in her second trial, which was dismissed in May, that there was misconduct in ballot signature verification in the state’s most populated county.

Earlier this month, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge rejected her request to view signed ballots of 1.3 million early voters.

Lake announced she would be running for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-Ariz.) seat as the heavy favorite for the GOP nomination in October. Sinema has yet to announce if she is running for reelection, but Lake would likely face off against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Sinema if she were to join the race.

Lake has been a vocal supporter and ally of former President Trump and earned his endorsement shortly after announcing her bid.

The Hill has reached out to Lake for comment on the probable cause orders.