By Howard Fischer | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Arizona is one of several states where Trump administration effort has been denied
- Federal judges says DOJ is misreading law
- Judge says any new appeal by DOJ will be denied
The Trump administration is making another legal bid to get the records of Arizona’s more than 4.3 million registered voters.
Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the civil rights division at the Department of Justice, filed the legal paperwork saying she is going to ask the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich that the administration was not entitled to the records.
Dhillon, in a June 3 filing, did not say what she thinks that Brnovich got wrong. The basis for her arguments may have to wait weeks while she prepares the actual appeal.
But the administration could have an uphill fight.
Not only did Brnovich toss out the case, but she did it “with prejudice,” meaning the judge said there is nothing more that the Department of Justice could say that would change her mind. In fact, the judge said any further arguments “would be legally futile.”
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes – the person whom the Department of Justice sued to get access to the records – pointed that language up when he vowed to continue the fight at the appellate court.
