Trump Administration Expands 2020 Election Investigation with Arizona Records Acquisition

FBI Subpoenas Arizona Senate Records Related to 2020 Election Audit

Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen confirmed Monday that he has handed over records related to the controversial 2020 presidential election audit to the FBI, complying with a federal grand jury subpoena. Petersen, a Republican, stated in a social media post that he delivered the requested materials “late last week.”

“The FBI has the records,” Petersen wrote. He did not provide additional details, and a spokesperson for Senate Republicans indicated that Petersen “does not have anything to add outside of his X post at this time.” The FBI office in Phoenix has not yet responded to requests for comment.

This marks the second instance this year where federal investigators have obtained election-related records from a key battleground state. In January, the FBI seized ballots and other materials from Georgia’s Fulton County after securing a search warrant from a judge. That search warrant relied on years-old claims that had been previously investigated without finding evidence of widespread fraud.

The methods used to obtain records differed in each state. In Georgia, agents used a judicially-approved search warrant, which required showing probable cause that a crime had occurred. For the Arizona records, investigators relied on subpoenas, which don’t require judicial approval or assertions of criminal activity.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, sharply criticized Petersen’s compliance with the subpoena, noting that numerous audits, investigations, and legal challenges found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

“Warren Petersen knows all of this. He has known it for years. He spread false stories of election fraud in 2020, and he remains an unrepentant election denier,” Mayes said. “What the Trump administration appears to be pursuing now is not a legitimate law enforcement inquiry. It is the weaponization of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies.”

The subpoenaed records likely relate to a widely criticized audit commissioned by Arizona Senate Republicans in 2021. The investigation, conducted by a firm called Cyber Ninjas, spent six months searching for evidence of fraud in Maricopa County’s 2020 presidential election results. Election experts criticized the process as marred by bias and flawed methodology.

The audit became notorious for exploring conspiracy theories, including checking ballots for bamboo fibers based on unfounded claims they were shipped from Asia. Despite these efforts, the audit concluded without finding evidence to support former President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims. In fact, the final report showed that Biden received 360 more votes than initially counted in Maricopa County.

Cyber Ninjas also acknowledged there were “no substantial differences” between their hand count and the official tally. Previous reviews of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million ballots by nonpartisan professionals following state law had already found no significant issues with the election, which was administered by Republicans. Biden won Maricopa County by approximately 45,000 votes and Arizona overall by about 10,500 votes.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, suggested that voter files from Maricopa County may have been among the records Petersen provided to the FBI. Fontes expressed concern about the transfer of sensitive voter information, stating his office was “considering legal options to secure personal voter information in the 2020 data that was shared.”

The federal investigations into the 2020 election come amid ongoing tensions between the Justice Department and several states over access to detailed voter data. The Justice Department has sued multiple states, including Arizona, to obtain voter information containing names, birth dates, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers.

Election officials have raised concerns that providing such detailed information could violate state and federal data privacy laws and potentially lead to voters being improperly removed from state rolls. Fontes characterized the Justice Department’s actions as “a move to undermine the legal process.”

The ongoing investigations continue to highlight the political divisions surrounding the 2020 presidential election, nearly four years after Biden defeated Trump.