AZ Sen Leader Gives Audit Subpoena Timetable, Predicts AG Will Hammer Maricopa County Election Officials
Arizona Senate Majority Whip Sonny Borrelli believes state Attorney General Mark Brnovich will act quickly on the lawmaker’s request to investigate Maricopa County’s noncompliance with election audit subpoenas.
In a Tuesday filing to the attorney general’s office, Borrelli cited multiple state statutes the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has violated by failing to supply the materials sought in a July 26 subpoena issued by Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Senate Judiciary Chair Warren Petersen.
Among other items, the subpoena sought access to the routers used during the November general election and the passwords for the Dominion Voting Systems ballot tabulation devices.
“I’m really confident that the attorney general will follow through with this,” Borrelli told One America News Network on Thursday, regarding his investigation filing, which is known as a 1487 request.
The 1487 request to the Arizona Attorney General has been filed against the Maricopa Board of Supervisors by @SonnyBorrelli on behalf of the Arizona Senate. I support this and hope the @GeneralBrnovich lays the smack down. Throw the book at them! pic.twitter.com/vJkfoTvozp
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) August 3, 2021
“The attorney general did send an amicus brief, if you will, when the county was challenging us on our subpoena,” the senator added.
Access to the routers and tabulation device passwords were both listed in the original subpoena issued in December and reissued in January, but Maricopa County and Dominion have not complied.
Maricopa County took the state Senate to court in December seeking to block enforcement of the subpoena.
Later that month, Brnovich’s office filed a brief looking to persuade Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason, who was overseeing the case, to enforce the subpoena.
The judge “should recognize the Arizona Legislature’s broad authority to issue and enforce legislative subpoenas,” wrote Brnovich aide, Michael Catlett, a deputy solicitor general, according to the Arizona Capitol Times.
In February, Thomason ruled the Arizona Senate has “broad constitutional power” to subpoena election-related materials, including those items listed in the subpoena.
Borrelli argued his 1487 request now serves the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ noncompliance up to Brnovich on a “silver platter.”
Asked how long he thinks it will take for Brnovich’s office to act on the 1487 request, Borrelli responded, “I’m hoping that we’ll see something within the next seven days.”
“You’ve got to give him something for him to act on. Now I’m giving him something for him to act upon and that is, they’re challenging the direct authority of the state Senate,” the lawmaker said.
“This is pretty much handed to him on a silver platter,” Borrelli added. “Normally, this would take a 30-day window, but since he’s already weighed in on our favor with the courts, it’s already done.”
“It’s a no-brainer. The statute’s pretty clear: Contempt and disobedience of a subpoena is a class II misdemeanor,” the senator said, referring to Arizona Revised Statute 41-1154.
Class II misdemeanors carry a penalty of up to four months in jail and a $750 fine.
Borrelli also pointed out the attorney general can direct after 30 days that 10 percent of state-shared revenue to the county can be cut for not complying, which would be over $61 million.
“On top of that is the jail time and a personal fine,” he said, “which I hope they get all of it.”
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