Attorney General Mark Brnovich
By Richard Ruelas | Arizona Republic
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office sought information from the Office of the Federal Register about a document a group of Arizona Republicans sent falsely calling themselves the state’s presidential electors and that used the official state seal, according to documents released Friday.
The request from prosecutors specified exactly how the documents needed to be delivered to the office to be useful in obtaining a conviction, according to emails released to from the Federal Register’s Office.
However, one year later, there have been no prosecutions. The status of the case is not clear.
One member of the false electors slate in question said in January that she had not been contacted by any investigators.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office did not return a request for comment on Friday. The office generally declines to comment on investigations.
Brnovich, who is seeking the Republican nomination this year to vie for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Mark Kelly, also has been investigating how the 2020 election was conducted in the Phoenix area, combing through the findings of a partisan ballot review ordered by the state Senate. Former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, who oversaw that election, said he was interviewed by someone from Brnovich’s office in November.
Arizona produced three slates of presidential electors after the 2020 election. One was the legitimate slate that cast its votes for Joe Biden, after Gov. Doug Ducey and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs certified his win in the state.
The other two were interlopers — groups of Republicans who wanted to ignore that result and cast electoral votes for former President Donald Trump.
