This should be interesting—well played by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who is running for governor. The Arizona Republic is reporting that today Hobbs sent a letter to the state’s Attorney General Mark Brnovich, urging him to investigate trump’s interference in the state’s 2020 election. Brnovich, a Republican, has announced a run for the US Senate next year against Democrat Mark Kelly.
Secretary Hobbs's request is based on earlier reporting by the Arizona Republic that revealed trump's attempt to twist the arm of Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman, a Republican, similar to his Georgia call in January when he asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “just find 11,780 votes.” Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward were also part of the pressure campaign.
The Republic acquired voice messages and tweets that show trump and his team hoped to “find” some votes in Arizona as well. The White House message, however, was left the day after the Georgia story exploded, so Hickman knew what it was about and did not return trump's call. Messages from Giuliani and Ward that, among other things, urged Hickman “stop the counting” as Biden’s lead grew, are also documented in the paper’s story.
Brnovich has a choice. The evidence clearly shows trump and his team did try to interfere in the election, a crime, as Secretary Hobbs writes in her letter: “Arizona law protects election officials from those who would seek to interfere with their sacred duties to ascertain and certify the will of the voters.”
Hobbs said some of the communications “involve clear efforts to induce supervisors to refuse to comply with their duties,” which could violate Arizona law.
“The reporting also includes firsthand statements from the victims of this potential crime,” Hobbs said. She cited at least one potential felony charge under Arizona law….
The AG is on record saying, “Fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic,” and trump’s actions compromise any sense of fairness, so Brnovich should be obligated to investigate. However, trump has criticized him for not sucking up to the Ninja knuckleheads running the sham audit, and he’ll likely need the MAGA crowd to win the Republican senate primary. If he investigates he’ll piss off the MAGA boobs, who are already suspicious of him because of trump’s disapproval; if he doesn’t investigate and wins the primary, he'll probably lose the general due to his inaction. Popcorn?
h/t to tht73 in the comments, who reminds us that Arizona Republicans brought this on themselves. Normally the Secretary of State would investigate election shenanigans, and if Hobbs did Republicans would say it’s a partisan witch hunt. But the Republican Legislature just passed a law that removes most investigatory powers from her office—that is, until next year when they expect a Republican SoS. It’s all yours, GOP, investigate and alienate your trump base, or don’t investigate and tick off most general voters.