Attorney General Mark Brnovich
By Mary Jo Pitzl Arizona Republic
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors issued a blistering and at times personal critique of Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s preliminary findings of “serious vulnerabilities” in how Maricopa County ran the 2020 election, saying it was imperative to correct a record that Brnovich severely distorted.
“One cannot play politics with the instruments of the law. One cannot play politics with prosecutorial power,” the supervisors wrote in a nine-page letter delivered to the attorney general.
“Given the oaths you took as both a lawyer and elected official, we were shocked” by the interim report, they added.
County Recorder Stephen Richer, who signed on to the letter, said in remarks to the board that the interim report Brnovich delivered a month ago to Senate President Karen Fann was riddled with errors and omissions, and perpetuates the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen.
Brnovich issued an interim report on his ongoing investigation of the election, building off the materials Fann sent him last September after the Cyber Ninjas and other Senate contractors completed their work reviewing Maricopa County’s 2020 election.
Read Brnovich’s report:AG’s report questions procedures, doesn’t allege wrongdoing
The report cited no widespread fraud and did not provide any evidence that would suggest an outcome different than what county elections results and numerous follow-up audits showed: that Joe Biden won the presidential vote in Maricopa, sealing his win in Arizona and nationwide.
Brnovich’s interim report expressed concerns about elections procedures, from the average time it took to verify voter signatures on mail-in ballot affidavits to the use of private grant money to assist state and county elections officials in staging an election in the midst of a pandemic.
It did not cite any criminal wrongdoing linked to the county’s performance, but it did cite several cases his office’s Election Integrity Unit had pursued — some of them in counties other than Maricopa and others involving matters from elections prior to 2020.
The report cautioned the investigation was ongoing.
