Penzone has shared router subpoena concerns with Arizona senators

PHOENIX — Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said he’s spoken with two Arizona Senate members expressing his concern over the possibility of a new subpoena to obtain routers the county uses for all its departments for the ongoing election audit.

“In both cases, they were grateful for the opportunity to learn about why I am concerned,” Penzone told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Tuesday. “I didn’t ask them if it changed their opinion or their perspective.

“I don’t believe it is my place to try and lobby them. It is my position to educate them so they can make sound decisions.”

Penzone, a Democrat, released a statement Friday after Jack Sellers, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, said the Senate was threatening to issue the new subpoena for the routers.

The county has refused to turn them over, saying doing so would cause major security issues and cripple county operations.

Penzone said his IT people came to him with the worries, which he shared with the senators.

He said a subpoena would “jeopardize the entire mission of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”

“It’s not just law enforcement information that would be at risk, it would be anyone who has interacted with the county system in some way and has a digital fingerprint,” Penzone said.

Maricopa County has already turned over the 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 election in the county, ballot tabulation equipment, computer servers and other elections-related equipment and a huge trove of information, including its voter database, after a judge upheld a December subpoena issued by GOP Senate President Karen Fann.

Penzone said his pushback isn’t due to his standing as a Democrat, but rather the relevance of county routers to the audit.

“Any issue that is adverse to law enforcement, I don’t care what party it comes from, I stand firm on what is right for law enforcement and for our community,” Penzone said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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