Maricopa.gov
By Howard Fischer | Capitol News Service
The state Court of Appeals has slapped down efforts by the state Senate to withhold about 1,100 records related to the audit of the 2020 election.
In a 14-page ruling Friday, the three-judge panel turned away arguments that the documents are protected by “legislative privilege.’’ They said there is no evidence that the audit, ordered by Senate President Karen Fann, was in any way related to the official business of state lawmakers.
More to the point, the judges rejected the contention by Kory Langhofer who represents the Senate that release of the documents would open up to public scrutiny the discussions that lawmakers had about the audit. He had argued disclosure would undermine what he said is a constitutional recognition that legislators are entitled to have private conversations and communications because that is part of their job.
In Friday’s order, the court ordered the Senate to “immediately disclose’’ all the records that it sought to shield.
But appellate Judge Michael Brown, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, did offer an option.
He said to the extent the Senate believes that release of certain documents would directly threaten the legislative process it can instead give them to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Kemp. And it will be up to him, after reviewing them, to decided whether they must be disclosed.
There was no immediate response from Fann.
Hanging in the balance are emails, texts and other documents possessed not only by the Senate itself but also those in the possession of Cyber Ninjas, the private firm Fann retained to conduct the review of the 2020 election in the state’s largest county.
