The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in AZ held their much awaited public meeting on Monday, where they strongly denounced the ongoing audit of the 2020 election vote as a “sham” and a “con.” They called on the GOP-led state Senate to end the “Cyber Ninja audit” or finish it and be prepared to defend its results in court.
A detailed written response, was sent to state Senate President Karen Fann, who had sent a letter to the board on May 12 demanding answers to a litany of evidence-less accusations. The County Board letter begins with a fiery denunciation of Senate President Karen Fann and the entire audit process -
These accusations are false, defamatory, and beneath the dignity of the Senate. They are an insult to the dedicated public servants in the Maricopa County Elections Department and Office of the Recorder, who work incredibly long hours conducting the County’s elections with integrity and honor.
Next, the 14-page letter forcefully makes its points in 6 parts, whose headings are -
- Your accusation, that Maricopa County deleted data, is false.
- Your various questions about our election procedures reveal a serious lack of understanding of election law, as well as the best practices utilized by Maricopa County and other jurisdictions for the conduct of elections. This section contains a point-by-point rebuttal for various accusatory questions sent by Senate President Karen Fann.
- We cannot produce what we do not possess; and, we do not possess additional passwords.
- We will not provide your “auditors” access to the County’s routers because doing so would compromise the security of the County’s network, which in turn could compromise the security of sensitive, protected and critical data.
- We will not attend your meeting on May 18, 2021.
- Your “audit” is harming all of us, and we ask you to end it
Point #2 begins with this scathing rebuke -
We demand that you immediately rescind your false and malicious tweet asserting that Maricopa County “spoiled evidence” in the days before we provided the server to the Senate. Your tweet, which relies on the “modified date” shown in the screenshot as evidence of wrongdoing, is demonstrably false; the only thing it does demonstrate is your auditors’ incompetence. Their stunning lack of a basic understanding for how their software works is egregious and only made worse by the false tweet sent defaming the hardworking employees of Maricopa County.
That the Senate would launch such a grave accusation via Twitter not only before waiting for an answer to your questions, but also before your so called“audit” demonstrates to the world that the Arizona Senate is not acting in good faith, has no intention of learning anything about the November 2020 General Election, but is only interested in feeding the various festering conspiracy theories that fuel the fundraising schemes of those pulling your strings. You have rented out the once good name of the Arizona State Senate to grifters and con-artists, who are fundraising hard-earned money from our fellow citizens even as your contractors parade around the Coliseum, hunting for bamboo and something they call “kinematic artifacts” while shining purple lights for effect. None of these things are done in a serious audit. The result is that the Arizona Senate is held up to ridicule in every corner of the globe and our democracy is imperiled.
#5 draws a line in the sand -
In your letter, you invite us to attend a meeting at the Arizona State Capitol on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., and you request that we bring Election Department officials who would have knowledge of our elections procedures. We will not be attending. We will not be responding to any additional inquiries from your “auditors”. Their failure to understand basic election processes is an indication you didn’t get the best people to perform in your political theatre. We have wasted enough County resources. People’s tax dollars are real, your “auditors” are not.
The letter ends with a polite appeal to rise above petty politics and to end the audit.
Finally, we express our united view that your “audit”, no matter what your intentions were in the beginning, has become a spectacle that is harming all of us. Our state has become a laughingstock. Worse, this “audit” is encouraging our citizens to distrust elections, which weakens our democratic republic.
...
You are photographing ballots contrary to the laws that the Senate helped enact, and you are sending those images to unidentified places and people. You have repeatedly lost control of your twitter account, which has tweeted things that appear to be the rantings of a petulant child—not the serious statements of a serious audit.
None of this is inspiring confidence. None of this will cause our citizens to trust elections. In fact, it is having the opposite result. You certainly must recognize that things are not going well at the Coliseum. You also must know that the County’s election was free and fair, and that our Elections Department did an outstanding job conducting it.
Unfortunately, this has become a partisan issue, and it should not be one. It is time to make a choice to defend the Constitution and the Republic. As County elected officials, we come from different political parties, but we stand united together to defend the Constitution and the Republic in our opposition to the Big Lie. We ask everyone to join us in standing for the truth. The November 3, 2020 general election was free and fair and conducted by the Elections Department with integrity and honor.
Regardless of your intentions when you decided to subpoena our equipment and ballots, this cannot really be what you envisioned. You, Senate President Fann, are the only one with the power to immediately end it. We implore you to recognize the obvious truth: your “auditors” are in way over their heads. They do not have the experience necessary to conduct an audit of an election. They do not know the laws, nor the procedures, nor the best practices. It is inevitable that they will arrive at questionable conclusions.
It is time to end this. For the good of the Senate, for the good of the Country and for the good of the Democratic institutions that define us as Americans.
Here is the video of the press conference, which was a bit more raw and emotional -
Some snippets —
Chairman @jacksellers: "This Board is done explaining anything to these people who are playing investigator w/ our constituents' ballots and equipment paid for by real people's tax dollars... It's time to be done w/ this craziness and get on with the county's critical business."
Recorder @stephen_richer: "I'm now the leader of an office of 160 full-time employees and I am tired of hearing them defamed and ridiculed."
Supervisor @billgatesaz regarding Senate audit: "It’s time to say enough is enough. It’s time to push back on the Big Lie.”
Supervisor @Steve_Chucri: "I supported an audit... I didn't support a mockery, which is what this has become."
Supervisor @billgatesaz regarding Fann’s demand for a meeting: "This board was going to be part of a political theater broadcast on live stream by OAN. We’re not going to be a part of that.”
Chairman @jacksellers: "As Chairman of this Board, I just want to make it clear I will not be responding to any more requests from this sham process. Finish what you're calling an audit and be ready to defend your report in a court of law."
Note that 4 of the 5 members of the board are Republicans, so is recorder Stephen Richer.
State Senate President Karen Fann will livestream her response at 1 p.m. MST (4 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday.
Stephen Richer on CNN -
We found out about this latest accusation through the Arizona Senate's audit's Twitter account, which is anonymously run, just accusing me and my staff of unlawfully deleting evidence. That's not appropriate. And I called the Senate president and I said, did you want to accuse me of unlawful evidence? She wrote back that she did not have control over these accounts. What's going on and who are these people defaming us? I don't think they are professionals ... it is exhausting having to respond to every insinuation. I have no idea how long this will go on for.
Recorder Stephen Richer wrote this tweet on Saturday, denouncing trump, who was regurgitating the baseless accusations made by the zealots of Cyber Ninja -
We wrote about that tweet and the background of the Maricopa County audit in diary — "Wow. This is unhinged" writes Maricopa County Election Official about trump's deranged statement.
Earlier yesterday, he tweeted poetically about why he and his colleagues are fighting back -
Epilogue
Unfortunately, the circus will continue in AZ and may spread to other Republican controlled states, all in service of the Big Lie. This may not be just about trying to overturn the 2020 election, but may be an attempt to seed the ground for overturning future elections, where republicans do not like the outcome, in spite of their worst efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters. The fraudulent unverifiable results and rumors from the audit may be used to justify more draconian laws to suppress voting and perhaps ban mail-in voting. After all, republicans can no longer win in fair elections.
On the other hand, this may help stop or slow down the forces behind the Big Lie and further deepen the fissure between Republican camps. Let’s hope it nullifies any fraudulent conclusions arrived at by the Cyber Ninjas and emboldens other moderate Republicans to stand up against the fascist forces in their party.
Let’s do all we can to neutralize this constant barrage of lies that emanates like flies from the putrid right-wing swamp, all instigated by the Lord of the Lies himself. Let’s make sure our friends and families are kept informed of these anti-Democracy acts by Republicans. Hopefully, others here have some practical suggestions on how we can counter these non-stop attempts by republicans to strangle our Democracy.