(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Will any prosecutor charge Kari Lake with making a terrorist threat? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-11 As reported here, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate and unsuccessful litigant Kari Lake riled up a Georgia crowd by issuing a statement that sounds quite a bit like what the laws of some states call a terrorist threat. In reaction to the indictment of The Former Guy on 37 counts, 31 of which fall under the Espionage Act, for alleged theft of confidential, secret and top secret documents that he allegedly spirited off to Mar-a-Lago, spilled onto crass casino carpeting, stored in a shower and next to a toilet in a chandelier-adorned bathroom, and possibly shared with some among the thousands of guests visiting his Florida resort over a number of months, Lake proclaimed: “If you want to get to Trump, you’re going to have to go through me, and 75 million Americans just like me. And most of us are card carrying members of the NRA. That’s not a threat, that’s a public service announcement.” “I meant what I said,” Lake later tweeted. Lake, a former TV newscaster, reportedly plans to cleave to TFG, who now faces dozens of state and federal charges, at his anticipated appearance on the federal charges in a Miami court on Tuesday. First things first. Reportedly the NRA counts about 4.3 million members, and not the “most” part of 75 million, as Lake “falsely” claimed, reports The Independent. Lake, who found herself well to the rear of Democrat Ruben Gallego in a presumed U.S. senate matchup per late April polling, is widely known as an election denier and Trump sycophant. The courts have gone too easy on Lake and her counsel in her election-denial lawsuits. Of course, as with the rest of them, Lake only denies election results she doesn’t like, while not denying or opposing results she does agree with in races in the same election. The corporate media politely ignores such blatant hypocrisy. Lake did not deny, for example, the results of the 2022 congressional race that flipped Arizona’s second congressional district from blue to red or of Phoenix-area races in which Republicans won. Yet Lake continues to attempt to overturn her failed bid for governor in the same 2022 election, compelling Maricopa County judge Peter Thompson to issue a ruling as recently as May 26 “CONFIRMING the election of Katie Hobbs as Arizona Governor….” While Lake’s court challenges have been spectacularly devoid of evidence in support of her claims, Phoenix judges, sadly, so far have gone light on the sanctions. As of late last month Lake had been ordered to pay a mere $35,000, representing an order to reimburse Maricopa County for about $33,000 in litigation costs and the state Supreme Court’s paltry $2,000 in sanctions against her attorneys for making false statements in court (Lake also reportedly has spent about $227,000 from campaign funds on her own attorneys, a drop in the bucket compared with the $2.5M she clocked post-election pushing her false election-fraud claims). More recently, Judge Thompson outright denied Maricopa County’s request to sanction Lake or her attorneys in the wake of yet another trial finding that she had no evidence of election fraud. The county had argued in a court filing for “meaningful sanctions” because Lake and her counsel “repeatedly made demonstrably false statements to this Court .... These material misstatements of fact brought frivolous arguments and frivolous claims before the Court.” Meanwhile, Phoenix federal Judge John Tuchi, in a “blistering, 30-page opinion” in December 2022, ordered sections against Lake’s lawyers. I have not found any reporting on the amount of the federal court sanctions, but if any of you do know, I’d ask you to put the amount in the comments. Would a court convict Lake of a terrorism-related crime? Arizona Revised Statutes (“ARS”) section 13-2301(C)(12) defines “terrorism” as “any felony … that involves the use of a deadly weapon ... or the intentional or knowing infliction of serious physical injury with the intent to do any of the following: (a) Influence the policy or affect the conduct of this state or any of [its] political subdivisions… [or] (c) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population.” ARS section 13-2308.02(A) & (E) make it a class 3 felony “for a person to threaten to commit an act of terrorism and communicate the threat to any other person.” A class 3 felony carries for first-time offenders a sentencing range of two to 8.75 years, per ARS section 13.702(D). “It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that the person did not have the intent or capability of committing the act of terrorism,” per ARS section 13-2308.02(C). Kari Like is an Arizonan, but what if her threat were interpreted to be directed at people (including prosecutors, court staff and judges) in Florida? That state’s statutes make a class 2 felony the issuance “in any manner” an electronic message or post threatening to kill or do bodily harm to another or “Conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.” Fla. Stat. section 836.10(2). Terrorism or terrorist activity is defined in Florida as a “violent act or an act dangerous to human life which is a violation of the criminal laws of this state or of the United States” that is intended to “Intimidate, injure or coerce” a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or “Affect the conduct of government through destruction of property, assassination, murder, kidnapping, or aircraft piracy.” Fla. Stat. section 775.30(1). Florida’s terrorist threat law appears broader than Arizona’s and could result in a sentence of up to 15 years. Fla. Stat. section 775.082(3)(d). If Kari Lake’s “public service announcement” that those who seek to prosecute Trump in relation to the 37-count classified-documents indictment must “go through” her and up to 75 million other, presumably gun-toting Trumpistas can be interpreted as a threat to commit serious bodily harm, conduct a mass shooting or commit an act that is violent or dangerous to human life in violation of criminal law that is intended to intimidate a civilian population or coerce government policy, then under Florida criminal laws she could criminally liable for making a terrorist threat. In Arizona, with the same intent, Lake’s statement would have to be interpreted as threatening to commit a felony using a deadly weapon or intend to inflict serious bodily harm. How about Georgia, where Lake issued her threat of violence? Georgia courts have stated that to be criminally liable for a “terroristic threat” under Georgia code section 16-11-37, a person must threaten to commit a crime of violence against the victim with the purpose of terrorizing the victim. The victim need not be present for the threat to incur criminal liability. The crime is complete upon the communication of the threat. Georgia Code sections 16-11-220 and 221 punish with prison terms of 15-35 years or life, depending on the severity of the harm, acts of domestic terrorism, which are defined much as they are in Florida, Kari Lake’s statement looks to be a pretty good fit at least under Arizona’s or Florida’s terrorist threat statutes and could well be interpreted as a terroristic threat in Georgia. Will any prosecutor step and prosecute Lake under a state terrorism statute (such that the presidential pardon not apply) and send her to prison for a long time? 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