With this week's rattle of his tin cup, Mark Finchem reaches a new low

Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic
·3 min read
282
Mark Finchem dropped his bid to overturn the results of the election but was more than happy to use it as a plea for cash.
Mark Finchem dropped his bid to overturn the results of the election but was more than happy to use it as a plea for cash.

Mark Finchem’s failed lawsuit challenging his landslide loss in last year’s election may be over, but his trusty tin cup keeps 'a rattlin'.

That thing has moves the Energizer Bunny has never seen.

Finchem lost the secretary of state’s race and promptly put out a plea for funds, asking his supporters to “stand for election integrity” and pay off his campaign debt.

Never mind that his campaign finance report, filed just a day earlier, showed he had nearly $97,000 left in the bank.

Finchem lost the race, then his lawsuit

Finchem filed his lawsuit contesting his loss and promptly put out a series of pleas for funds to challenge the “stolen” election.

Never mind that he lost by 120,000 votes or that even his own attorney worried aloud that he could be disbarred for bringing the lawsuit, what with state law frowning upon lawyers who bring meritless claims.

Finchem lost his lawsuit and was sanctioned by a (Republican-appointed) judge for wasting the court’s time with “groundless” claims.

So, naturally, he promptly put out a plea for funds, begging the MAGA Faithful to dig deep and give, give, GIVE.

“I was hit with sanctions by a liberal judge because I challenged the stolen election results,” he tweeted in March. “The judge never heard my evidence in court & slapped me with sanctions as payback. I’m appealing but need $120k to take this all the way to the US SCOTUS.”

He dropped his appeal, asked for cash

Earlier this week, Finchem dropped his bid to overturn the results of the election, having not even made it through the Arizona Court of Appeals, though he is still contesting the sanctions.

Finchem’s attorney filed the motion to dismiss his appeal on July 30, as first reported by Paul Weich, who writes the AZ Law blog.

Can you guess what came next?

The Arizona Republic’s eagle-eyed Mary Jo Pitzl spotted it.

“We are INCREDIBLY close to being able to pay our lawyers’ fees for this month, which means we will be able to continue the good fight for Election Integrity,” Finchem wrote in a plea for funds on July 31. “We can fortify our challenge of the fraudulent 2022 election, and we can fight the punitive and unconstitutional sanctions that have been levied on me and Kari Lake.”

Race roulette: Now Finchem wants to be Yavapai County's senator

“I am ready to keep the fight going,” Finchem added. “We expect big developments in the case this month, we just need to be able to pay our lawyers so we can capitalize!”

There are no 'big developments' coming

Nowhere in Finchem’s latest money plea does he mention that no “big developments” will be forthcoming in his lawsuit because he dropped it the day before he shook down the faithful for more cash.

But he does add a helpful postscript.

“Can you help me stand up to the fraud with a donation tonight?”

Yep, he really wrote that.

I almost feel sorry for the Chump Nation, the rubes who will, no doubt, run for their credit cards to fortify the bank account of this self-described “Election Integrity Patriot.”

Almost.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mark Finchem hits up Chump Nation with a new fundraising low