Settlement reportedly reached in Stephen Richer-Kari Lake defamation lawsuit
Nov 18, 2024, 8:30 AM
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's defamation lawsuit against Kari Lake reportedly has been settled. (Getty Images Photos)
(Getty Images Photos)
PHOENIX — Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s defamation lawsuit against Kari Lake reportedly has been settled.
The details of the settlement are confidential, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. Richer told the newspaper in a text message that “both sides are satisfied with the result.”
Richer filed the lawsuit in June 2023 in response to Lake’s rhetoric following her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial race.
Richer accused Lake of making repeated false and defamatory statements that resulted in him being harassed and threatened. He said his reputation was harmed and he had to spend thousands of dollars on home security as a result.
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The defamation lawsuit named Lake, her campaign and her political fundraising group as defendants.
In addition to unspecified monetary damages, Richer was seeking a court order declaring Lake’s statements false and requiring her to delete them from social media.
What happened after defamation lawsuit was filed?
After she failed to get the lawsuit dismissed, Lake requested a default judgement in March of this year. That moved the case to the damages phase without the facts being disputed in court.
“We now have a judgment saying that Kari Lake lied about me, lied to the world, lied to Arizona, lied about the 2022 election,” Richer told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News after Lake asked for the default judgement. “And so that will be entered in a court of law, and now we’ll move on to assess just how much it damaged me, and we’re going to say it damaged me a lot.”
In May, Richer told KTAR News’ The Mike Broomhead Show he would be open to an out-of-court settlement.
Lake and Richer both wound up losing their elections this year. Lake won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate but was defeated by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Richer, meanwhile, saw his reelection bid end in the GOP primary, where he was defeated by Justin Heap. Heap went on to win the general election for Maricopa County recorder.
