Arizona Republican state legislators pushed back against Maricopa County officials on Tuesday, one day after the county’s Board of Supervisors defiantly refused to cooperate with subpoenas for additional information about the November 3, 2020, election conducted in the state’s most populous county.
“Build the case, set the trap, and boom the Maricopa lies will come back to haunt them,” State Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) tweeted on Tuesday:
Fann’s tweet came a day after she released a statement on Monday when news of Maricopa County’s defiance broke:
Based on today’s responses from Maricopa County and Dominion, it appears we will soon secure copies of ballot envelopes and critical voter registration information. That is progress, and the final audit report will be better because of it.
Maricopa County’s slow-walk of the Senate public records request into a possible breach of the voter registration server is frustrating, and we will try to be patient and give the County more time to comply, as they requested.
We are weighing our options for securing access to the routers and passwords and will make a thoughtful decision in due course after conferring with my staff, counsel, and colleagues. It is unfortunate the noncompliance by the County and Dominion continues to delay the results and breeds distrust.
We remain committed to ensuring election integrity as voter confidence is at the heart of what we set out to achieve in this endeavor. Our constituents deserve no less.
“The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors sent a defiant letter to the Arizona State Senate on Monday, refusing to cooperate with the state legislative body’s request for additional information about the November 2020 general election in the state’s most populous county,” Breitbart News reported earlier this week.
On Tuesday, State Senate Majority Whip Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City) released a statement announcing he asked Arizona Attorney General Brnovich to investigate the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for violating the law:
Today I submitted a request for the Arizona Attorney General to investigate the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for their failure to comply with subpoenas from the State Senate. The supervisors are acting as if they are above the law, and it is an insult to the citizens of our state.
President Fann has handled this process professionally and she has tried to be diplomatic while dealing with the attacks and insults from the Board. Enough is enough! The level of disrespect and contempt from the supervisors toward Senate leadership and Arizona voters is appalling.
Yesterday the Board of Supervisors ignored the subpoena deadline and failed to provide the routers used in the November election. They failed to provide passwords and security keys required to access tabulation devices. They failed to provide splunk logs and similar data.
I respectfully request the Attorney General investigate this clear violation of the law. Arizonans expect no less[.]
The Associated Press reported Borrelli’s complaint was filed “under Senate Bill 1487.”:
The 5-year-old law allows any lawmaker to demand an investigation of “any ordinance, regulation, order or other official action” taken by a local government that may conflict with state law.
Brnovich has 30 days to review the complaint. If he finds a violation, the county could face a loss of funding if the problem is not rectified.
Fann and Borrelli were not the only Arizona Republican state legislators to take exception to the defiance of Maricopa County officials.
State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) said in a statement released on Tuesday:
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is engaged in one of the most divisive and dangerous subversions of government that the state of Arizona has ever witnessed. The Board’s blatant disregard for the Constitution and public mockery of the lawful oversight of elections by the Arizona legislature is not only disrespectful, it undermines the very fabric of our Republic.
“Through its obstructionism, lack of transparency, and outright trampling of the Constitution, the Board of Supervisors has effectively spit in the face of every voter in Maricopa County and this state,” Hoffman added.
