Nothing to see here, just that some portion of Arizona’s voter information (we don’t know which portions and they ain’t saying) has found its way to a “secure lab” that turns out to be a cabin south of Big Fork, Montana. It’s a gorgeous area, beautiful lakes and mountains, just not where I’d expect to find data from the 2020 Arizona election. [If you hit a paywall, see the Lex Lurker link after the Tip Jar.]
A contractor hired by the Arizona Senate is reviewing Maricopa County's 2020 election data from an undisclosed location in Montana, with no oversight from state or county officials.
Ben Cotton, founder of tech firm CyFIR, a Senate subcontractor, made copies of the county’s election server and other election data and then drove the copies to a “secure lab” in Montana, according to Senate liaison Ken Bennett.
That lab is a cabin.* One thing the Arizona Republic article makes clear is that nothing is clear: What kind of information is there? Why is it there? When is it coming back? Who has access to it? What safeguards are in place to protect it? Just what the holy friggin’ hell is going on? What couldn’t be done here? Either the Senate doesn’t know or they, Cyber Ninjas, and Ben Cotton aren’t saying. Like everything else connected to this shindig—funding, recruitment, procedures—we’re in the dark.
The public wouldn’t know any of this except that an observer for the Secretary of State’s Office heard a rumor and asked the question. Spokesperson Bennett confirmed the Montana story but provided no details. Shit’s gotta stop. DOJ? Bueller? Anyone?
And get this: Yesterday three legislators from Pennsylvania visited the Arizona circus and said they “absolutely” must bring the giant money-making scheme to the Keystone State. Yeah, because it’s going so well here. Just don’t be surprised when your PA records end up in rural Maine.
*Thanks to some sleuthing by Montana commenters, we now know that the “cabin” mentioned in the news stories is actually a large home on 160 acres.