An Arizona Supreme Court panel has authorized the state bar to move forward with complaints against Kari Lake's former lawyers, finding that there is "probable cause" for the complaints.
Lake, a former TV anchor, launched multiple legal challenges after she ran as a Republican in Arizona's gubernatorial race in November 2022 and lost to Katie Hobbs by about 17,000 votes. Her challenges, including a request that the court throw out the certified election result over accusations of fraud in the state's largest county, Maricopa County, have been dismissed.
Bryan Blehm and Kurt Olsen represented her in that case, while Andrew Parker represented Lake and former candidate for Arizona secretary of state Mark Finchem in a separate case challenging the use of voting machines in Arizona ahead of the 2022 elections, which was thrown out in October 2023 by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court's Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee has now authorized the bar to prepare official complaints against Blehm and Olsen, following a complaint made that over 35,000 ballots were placed fraudulently into the 2022 election. The Arizona Supreme Court had granted sanctions against them in May 2023 for repeating the false claim in court.
"Although Lake may have permissibly argued that an inference could be made that some ballots were added, there is no evidence that 35,563 ballots were and, more to the point here, this was certainly disputed," Chief Justice Robert Brutinel wrote in the sanctions order.
Blehm faces an additional complaint over a post he made on X, formerly Twitter, claiming a Supreme Court Task Force on Countering Disinformation, spearheaded by Brutinel, was formed as part of a CIA-induced effort to hide cases exposing electoral fraud.
Blehm has denied wrongdoing and wrote to the Bar: "My tweet was intended to say that the Arizona judiciary was hoodwinked by the national security apparatus specifically to limit attorney speech and willingness to bring valid claims on behalf of their clients."
The separate complaint against Olsen and Parker is over claims they made in court including that Arizona does not use paper ballots and that voting systems in Maricopa County are connected to the Internet. An investigation commissioned by the Arizona Senate found these claims to be false.
Newsweek has contacted Blehm, Olsen, Parker and the State Bar of Arizona to comment on this story.
The probable cause step is the third step in the attorney disciplinary process in Arizona and it follows a case being reviewed by an intake lawyer and referred for a screening investigation.
The complaints could now enter formal hearings overseen by a disciplinary judge or be settled through a disciplinary agreement.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
