Two Republican Arizona congressmen are demanding the controversial audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 election be allowed to continue. It comes in response to the U.S. Justice Department’s concerns that the process may be violating federal law. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports.
In a letter to the Justice Department, Arizona representatives Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, along with fellow House Republicans Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, accuse the DOJ of interfering in the audit. They and former President Donald Trump also claim a voting database had been deleted, an assertion Republican Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer calls, quote, “unhinged.”
Earlier this month, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said the 2.1 million ballots at the center of the audit along with other materials are no longer in possession of local officials, potentially violating federal election law.
On Monday, the GOP-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors fought back against the unfounded claims of election fraud. They vehemently defended their handling of the 2020 election and framed the audit as a partisan sham. The supervisors also said Cyber Ninjas, the small Florida company leading the state Senate’s audit, was incompetent.
