Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons and one novel. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.com.
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Arizona's Top Election Official Urges State Investigation Of Kari Lake
@next2godwin
February 02 | 2023
Kari Lake
Republican Kari Lake, who lost the 2022 Arizona governorship election to her Democrat counterpart but has refused to acknowledge that outcome, has landed in legal hot water for posting voter information online as part of her continued effort to overturn her defeat.
Insisting that electoral misconduct had cost the GOP victory in Arizona’s gubernatorial race last November, Lake has for months flooded the airwaves with baseless claims of fraud, mimicking her endorser, serial election denier and ex-president Donald Trump.
Lake’s election denialism escalated to outlandish levels on January 23 when she claimed without evidence in a Twitter post that election officials “illegally counted” nearly 40,000 ballots with mismatched signatures and appended a graphic showing 16 voter signatures.
\u201c\ud83d\udea8 BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY \ud83d\udea8\n\nToday\u2019s Senate Testimony CONFIRMS nearly 40,000 ballots illegally counted (10% of the signatures reviewed).\n\nI think all the \u201cElection Deniers\u201d out there deserve an apology.\u201d— Kari Lake (@Kari Lake) 1674514511
That graphic may have run afoul of state law, said Adrian Fontes, Arizona's Secretary of State, in a letter to the state’s attorney general, Kris Mayes, on Monday, citing Arizona law (ARS 16-168, Section F). It prohibits “records containing a voter's signature” from being “accessible or reproduced by any person other than the voter [or] by an authorized government official in the scope of the official's duties.”
“The protections afforded by this subsection prohibit posting any information derived from voter registration forms or precinct registers to the internet, and under no circumstance may a person other than the voter or an statutorily authorized person reproduce a voter’s signature,” Fontes noted in the letter.
Violating that law is a felony, Fontes wrote, asking Mayes to “investigate and take proper enforcement action against” Lake. A representative for Mayes confirmed receipt of the complaint, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
\u201cIn AZ\u2014> Arizona\u2019s new Secretary of State Adrian Fontes sent the following letter to AZ AG Kris Mayes this afternoon, referring Kari Lake for investigation for what, he says, was a violation of state law by tweeting out copies of voter signatures in her tweet, below.\u201d— Vaughn Hillyard (@Vaughn Hillyard) 1675123105
In a statement on Monday, Tim La Sota, a Pheonix-based conservative lawyer representing Lake, denounced Fontes’ request as “another attempt to weaponize the justice system with a phony allegation against a Republican” and possibly an infringement of Lake’s “absolute right under the First Amendment.”
\u201c\ud83d\udc40 ICYMI \ud83d\udc40\n\n@KariLake lawyer Tim LaSota's statement on Cartel-lawyer @Adrian_Fontes's request that the Acting Attorney General pursue criminal charges against Lake, for sharing Senate testimony about the massive signature verification violations that occurred under HIS watch.\u201d— Kari Lake War Room (@Kari Lake War Room) 1675283877
Lake, a former news anchor and rising MAGA star, trafficked in false claims of election fraud — many borne of Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen — long before losing her governorship bid to Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs by over 17,000 votes.
Like Trump, Lake has disseminated a hodgepodge of disproven conspiracy theories alleging voter fraud on social media and appearances on conservative media outfits, alleging that both Democrat and Republican election officials had a hand in her loss.
A former senior elections analyst with the Arizona secretary of state’s office, Garrett Archer, blew a hole in Lake’s new “bombshell,” stating that the voter signatures hailed from the 2020 elections and there was more than one way by which officials authenticate ballot signatures.
\u201cMs. Lake, These signatures are from 2020.\n\nThey use recent affidavit envelopes to verify as well. That way if the MVD signature comes across wrong they have in-house to compare to.\n\nSo this doesn't confirm anything.\u201d— The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru (@The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru) 1674600971
According to the Arizona Republic, the Senate testimony on which Lake based her latest ballot signature allegation originated from an activist with a far-right election-denying group, We the People Arizona Alliance, with ties to pillow salesman and hoax peddler Mike Lindell.
The communications director for the Maricopa County Elections Department, Megan Gilbertson, labeled the assertions made by that activist, Shelby Busch, as “textbook misinformation” and accused Lake of seizing on “a common situation that occurs at a voting location and twisting it to cast doubt on the integrity of our elections,” according to the Arizona Mirror.
Votebeat reporter Jen Fifield noted on Twitter that Republican lawmakers in the Arizona Senate and election denial groups had first circulated the voter signatures and that it remains uncertain how the confidential voter information was leaked.
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Kevin McCarthy
Youtube Screenshot
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy joined hands with more than a dozen House Republicans, leading them in prayer at Wednesday’s National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, an event co-sponsored by several far-right Christian organizations, at least five of which appear on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups.
The California Republican specifically mentioned his upcoming meeting later Wednesday with President Joe Biden, when the two will discuss the debt ceiling, which Republicans want to leverage to massively cut federal spending on programs critical to keeping many Americans alive, including Social Security and Medicare – or shut down the federal government if Democrats do not agree to their terms.
“Father, I want to lift up those who are not here today. I want you to open their hearts,” McCarthy prayed. “Father, I want to lift up the president. Father, you know I will meet with him today. Father, I ask. I asked that you open both of our hearts that you put our meaning, our meaning that seeks your truth. And the help for this nation. Father, we know as we struggle, is we come up short and again but continue to seek your guidance. We ask that you give us the patience of Job. We ask that you give us the intellect the leadership that you gave David we ask that you give us the boldness.”
\u201cThey were followed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who led the gathering in prayer.\u201d— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1675272776
The event was held at the Museum of the Bible, a non-profit founded by right-wing evangelical activist David Green and the Green family. Green is the founder of Hobby Lobby, the privately-held chain store that won a Supreme Court case enshrining into U.S. jurisprudence the concept that for-profit corporations can and do have religious beliefs.
The five groups sponsoring the event which also appear on the SPLC’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups include the American Family Association (AFA), the Family Research Council (FRC), the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Liberty Counsel, and the Pacific Justice Institute.
Other attendees included anti-LGBTQ activists, like “right-wing pastor Andrew Brunson, who blasted the United States as ‘the primary corrupter of the world’ because ‘our government and corporations increasingly march under the rainbow flag,'” he said, as Right Wing Watch reported.
\u201cAmong the speakers was right-wing pastor Andrew Brunson, who blasted the United States as "the primary corrupter of the world" because "our government and corporations increasingly march under the rainbow flag."\u201d— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1675272776
Also, two “ex-gay” activists.
\u201cSpeakers also included two "ex-gay" activists who begged God to cleanse the nation of "the sins of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, and sex confusion."\u201d— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1675272776
Later, the Republicans, including McCarthy, were prayed over by Tony Perkins, the longtime head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council. Perkins has also served as chair and vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal government commission.
\u201cEventually, several members of Congress gathered near the stage so they could be prayed over by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.\u201d— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1675272776
Far-right House Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Weber of Texas descended into an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ tirade during which he invoked “the blood of the lamb” to telegraph to McCarthy his concerns about U.S. debt.
\u201cRep. Randy Weber wept over marriage equality and reproductive choice: "Father, we think we're so smart, but please forgive us. Please, please put America back on the right path to worshiping you."\u201d— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1675272776
Weber is an original co-sponsor of the federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He once compared then-President Barack Obama to Hitler.
Right Wing Watch reports some of the Members of Congress who attended include Reps. Mary Miller, Diana Harshbarger, Steve Scalise, Rick Allen, Brian Babin, Michael Cloud, Robert Aderholt, Tracey Mann, Burgess Owens, Gary Palmer, Michelle Steel, Warren Davidson, Brandon Williams, Dan Bishop, Nathaniel Moran, and Mike Johnson.
Watch the videos above or at this link.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
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