Administration expands 2020 election probe to AZ
Subpoenas issued for state's records
By: Ronald J. Nasen
Arizona Republic
USA Today
PHOENIX - Federal authorities have subpoenaed records from the Arizona Senate relating to its partisan recount of Maricopa County's ballots, widening President Donald Trump's bid to recast his loss in that election as the product of fraud.
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State Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, said in a social media post March 9 [2026] that he "received and complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate's 2020 audit of Maricopa County. The FBI as the records . Any other report is fake news."
..... On social media, Trump linked to an account of the subpoena by the conservative Just the News website. It cited unnamed sources who said the subpoena includes Arizona records related to Trump's 2024 victory. that includes a report claiming election observers reported irregularities "at a warehouse in Arizona where blank and filled-out absentee ballots were observed in the same location, the site said.
..... Trump's post also said the "voting probe expands,: referring to the FBI raid of 2020 election records held by authorities in Fulton County, Georgia.
..... Both states narrowly voted for former President Joe Biden in 20202 - Arizona by the narrowest margin in the country - handing Trump a defeat he has baselessly blamed ever since on widespread election fraud.
..... A taxpayer-funded recount conducted by Trump allies eventually concluded that Biden did win Maricopa County, as the certified results found.
..... Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, cast Petersen, who is challenging her for the state's top law enforcement job, as an election denier and said the latest move revisits a conspiratorial dead end.
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"The 2020 General Election in Arizona has been exhaustively reviewed," she said in a statement. "Multiple audits, court proceedings, and independent investigations - including those pursued by members of the same political party of the President - found no evidence of fraud sufficient to alter the outcome. These findings are not in dispute by any credible authority. The election results were certified, litigated and affirmed.
..... "What the Trump administration appears to be pursuing now is not a legitimate law enforcement inquiry. It is the weaponize of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies."
..... Arizona performed a hand recount of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County in the 2020 election. Cyber Ninjas, a Florida company with no prior election experience, led the review. the company aggressively searched for signs of fraud and relied on dubious experts who sought to affirm conspiracy theories. The Arizona Republic, part of the USA today Network, sued to examine records of the recount and found Trump cast a long shadow over the undertaking.
..... Even so, in September 2021, the company's CEO conceded their tally also found Biden won Arizona's most populous county. Their margin was slightly higher than the official count. Their report also warned of potential gaps in election security.