Doug Logan, CEO of Cyber Ninjas, answers questions Tuesday at a hearing of sorts to discuss the issues with the current Senate-ordered audit of Maricopa County election returns.
By Ryan Randazo | Arizona Republic
The firm hired by the Arizona Senate to conduct a review of the Maricopa County election was found in contempt of court Thursday and ordered to pay sanctions of $50,000 a day until it turns over public records from the review to The Arizona Republic.
The Republic sued Cyber Ninjas and the Senate in June for records and, after months of litigation, asked for sanctions against the company of $1,000 a day. Maricopa Superior Court Judge John Hannah ruled that the company’s noncompliance was worth 50 times that amount.
During a contentious two-hour hearing, Hannah found Cyber Ninjas in contempt of his order from Aug. 24 ordering the company to turn over emails, text messages and other documents sought by The Republic.
“It is lucidly clear on this record that Cyber Ninjas has disregarded that order,” Hannah said. “I don’t think I have to find Cyber Ninjas is not acting in good faith. All I have to do is find they are not complying, and their noncompliance is not based on good faith and reasonable interpretation of the order. I think the variety of creative positions Cyber Ninjas has taken to avoid compliance with this order speaks for itself.”
Hannah said the sanctions needed to be high enough to incentivize the company to comply with the order, and they are “intended to be coercive, but not punitive.”
But he also said he wanted to “put Cyber Ninjas on notice” and if the company still doesn’t comply, he would issue orders directly against the individuals responsible for providing the records.
“Our goal here is not to get sanctions, it is to get documents,” The Republic’s attorney Craig Hoffman said at the hearing.
