A top Republican election official in Arizona filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against Kari Lake, who falsely claims she lost the 2022 race for governor because of fraud. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said he's faced “violent vitriol and other dire consequences” because of lies spread by Lake, including death threats and the loss of friendships. “Rather than accept political defeat, rather than get a new job, she has sought to undermine confidence in our elections and has mobilized millions of her followers against me,” Richer wrote in an op-ed in The Arizona Republic.