Arizona AG reaches out to Senate, Maricopa County about election review findings
Sep 28, 2021, 10:36 AM | Updated: 1:54 pm
PHOENIX – The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is seeking more information from the Arizona Senate regarding the Cyber Ninjas-led review of the 2020 election in metro Phoenix and wants Maricopa County to preserve its documentation.
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright sent a letter to the Senate on Tuesday requesting supporting documents from the report that contractors presented last week.
The letter requests unredacted copies of all reports, evidence supporting findings presented by Shiva Ayyadurai and Ben Cotton, and the chance to meet individually with each of the contractors involved with the report.
Wright also wrote a letter asking Maricopa County officials to put a “litigation hold” on a slew of items related to their November election, including hard copies, emails, electronic data and video footage.
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The AG’s Office won’t discuss specific allegations until its Elections Integrity Unit finishes reviewing the material, according to a Tuesday press release.
“The Arizona Senate’s report that was released on Friday raises some serious questions regarding the 2020 election,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022, said in the release.
“Arizonans can be assured our office will conduct a thorough review of the information we receive.”
Contractors hired earlier this year by Arizona Senate Republican leaders to review the 2020 election in the state’s largest county released their findings Friday during a livestreamed meeting and posted their report online.
The contractors’ hand recount, one part of the review, affirmed President Joe Biden’s victory with numbers close to the ones certified in November by state officials, including Brnovich and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.
Senate President Karen Fann said she had concerns about “several items” and was forwarding the reports to Brnovich’s office to consider for further investigation.
“I will take all necessary actions that are supported by the evidence and where I have legal authority,” Brnovich said in a press release after the report came out Friday.
Fann has publicly maintained that she authorized the so-called “forensic audit” as a means to improve the election process and strengthen trust in the system, not to overturn the results.
However, many supporters of former President Donald Trump saw it as a step toward somehow returning him to office.
The contractors only looked at the races for president and U.S. Senate, which were both won by Democrats.
