Robert Anglen
Arizona Republic
A retired U.S. Army colonel and staunch loyalist to Donald Trump helped draft subpoenas the Arizona Senate used to seize Maricopa County election data for its “audit” of 2020 election results.
Phil Waldron worked with Trump’s outside legal team to overturn election results and pitched lawmakers on a plan to declare a national emergency and seize voting machines before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He told the state Senate what to target in its subpoenas, newly released records show.
Text messages obtained by The Arizona Republic offer the first direct evidence that Trump’s allies steered the Senate’s costly legal battle against the county as part of their efforts to overturn the election.
The texts, uncovered through public records lawsuits, show Waldron communicated directly with then-Senate President Karen Fann and played an important role in driving the “audit.”
