The House Oversight Committee is launching a review of the so-called “audit” of the election in Arizona’s Maricopa County, Politico reports.
The committee on Wednesday said it has requested information on the audit, which was launched by the Republican-led Arizona state Senate “despite clear, bipartisan consensus among county officials and outside experts that the election results were valid, that no significant fraud occurred, and that, following completion of a hand count and forensic audits by two nonpartisan election firms, the additional audit served no legitimate purpose,” the committee said in a statement.
“Americans’ right to vote is protected by the Constitution and is the cornerstone of our democratic system of government,” said Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Jamie Raskin, who heads the subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties. “The Committee is seeking to determine whether the privately funded audit conducted by your company in Arizona protects the right to vote or is instead an effort to promote baseless conspiracy theories, undermine confidence in America’s elections, and reverse the result of a free and fair election for partisan gain.”
Dems seek wide range of records:
The committee sent a letter to Douglas Logan, the CEO of the firm Cyber Ninjas, which is leading the so-called audit despite no background in such procedures. The committee asked the company for a wide range of documents including communications with county officials, former President Donald Trump and his team, and election conspiracy theorists like former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell.
“We are concerned about your company’s role in this highly unusual effort, given Cyber Ninjas’ apparent lack of experience in conducting election-related audits; reports that the company engaged in sloppy and insecure audit practices that compromised the integrity of ballots and voting equipment… and evidence that you and other individuals funding the audit have sought to advance the “big lie” of debunked voter fraud allegations,” the chairs said.
Audit costs hit taxpayers:
Maricopa County on Wednesday approved nearly $3 million to buy new voting machines to replace those taken by Cyber Ninjas after the Republican-led county board said the machines were compromised because they were in control of a firm not accredited to handle election equipment, according to the Associated Press.
Some members of the board said the Senate should cover the bill, though that would simply shift the cost burden from county taxpayers to those across the entire state.
“I think it is fundamentally unfair for the taxpayers of Maricopa County to be responsible for footing this bill,” a Republican supervisor said.
