Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason was appointed to the bench by Governor Jan Brewer in 2014.
On Friday, Judge Thomason ruled in favor of the Republican Sedition Party dead-enders in the Senate who want to conduct their own audit of the Maricopa County elections still hoping to prove Donald Trump’s “Stop The Steal” Big Lie that the election in Arizona was stolen.
When they find that their “Stop The Steal” conspiracy theory that led to the violent MAGA insurrection against the U.S. government on January 6, a date which will live in infamy, will they all immediately submit their resignations from office for promoting this insane conspiracy theory? There must be consequences.
The Arizona Mirror reports, Judge sides with Senate, says Maricopa must turn over election materials for audit:
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors must turn over ballots and tabulation machines to Senate Republican leaders so they can conduct an audit of the 2020 general election, a judge ruled.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason ruled on Friday that it was within the Senate’s authority to subpoena the materials and equipment so it can audit the election. The ruling brings a potential conclusion to the months-long battle between the supervisors and the Senate.
“The Court finds that the Subpoenas are legal and enforceable,” Thomason wrote in his ruling.
After meeting with their attorneys, the Republican supervisors decided to not appeal the ruling. Supervisor Jack Sellers, the board’s chairman, said the ruling “brings clarity to whether Senate subpoenas apply to ballots that, per state law, must be kept private following an election.”
Gallardo also takes issue with giving ballots to GOP senators who “planned to give these ballots to Rudy Giuliani's go-to ‘security expert’ for their so-called ‘independent audit’ of the November election.”
— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) February 26, 2021
“We respect his legal opinion and will immediately start working to provide the Arizona Senate with the ballots and other materials,” Sellers said in a press statement. “We hope senators will show the same respect and care we have for the 2.1 million private ballots and use them in service of their legislative duties.”
Senate President Karen Fann and two successive Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen issued subpoenas for nearly 2.1 million ballots, around 300 tabulation machines and a trove of other data and materials. They sought to conduct an audit of the election in response to the baseless fraud allegations and conspiracy theories espoused by former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters, including some Senate Republicans, after President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.
“We are very, very thrilled and grateful for the judge to look at the big picture and recognize that this was never about overturning any election. This was always about voter integrity and the integrity of the voting system itself,” Fann, a Prescott Republican, told the Arizona Mirror.
The dispute began in December, when then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Eddie Farnsworth held a six-hour hearing to question county officials about the conduct of the election. Even though the hearing turned up no evidence of any fraud, malfeasance or misconduct in the way Maricopa County conducted the election, Farnsworth and Fann issued the first round of subpoenas, prompting a lawsuit from the supervisors. Sen. Warren Petersen re-issued the subpoenas in January after he succeeded Farnsworth as the committee’s chairman.
Maricopa County challenged the subpoenas in court, arguing that it would be illegal to turn over the ballots to anyone, citing state laws requiring ballots to go under lock and key for two years once an election is canvassed. And the supervisors said it would jeopardize the certification of its ballot tabulation machines to allow an unaccredited or unqualified auditor to examine them.
The County is correct, based upon prior judicial precedents. Nevertheless:
Thomason rejected the county’s arguments that the ballots must be kept secured after the election and cannot be released, and said confidentiality laws clearly weren’t intended to prevent government officials from doing their jobs. The fact that state law requires the county treasurer to keep the ballots for 24 months suggests that they may be subject to subpoenas or investigations, the judge wrote. Thomason also noted that, under the county’s logic, it would be violating the law because the Board of Supervisors is holding onto the ballots rather than turning them over to the county treasurer while the litigation proceeds.
A specious argument.
And the judge said the right to a secret ballot, enshrined in the Arizona Constitution, isn’t jeopardized by the subpoenas because there is no way to determine which voter is tied to any given ballot.
As for the tabulation machines, Thomas said confidentiality laws don’t apply to them and provide no justification for withholding the equipment and machinery.
Thomason also found that the Senate had a valid legislative purpose in demanding the ballots. The Arizona Constitution empowers the legislature to pass “laws to secure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the elective franchise,” and it’s a valid legislative purpose for lawmakers to issue the subpoenas to gauge the “accuracy and efficacy of existing vote tabulation systems and competence of county officials in performing their election duties, with an eye to introducing possible reform proposals,” the judge wrote.
Even if one of the initial purposes of the subpoenas was to determine whether the results of the election could be challenged, as the county alleged, other legitimate purposes exist, Thomason ruled. And because Biden has already been sworn into office, the results of the election cannot be overturned.
Don’t tell that to the Trump/QAnon cult members who believe Trump will be sworn in as the 19th President on March 4. You can bet a number of these Republican Sedition Party dead-enders in the Senate are true believers of this insane conspiracy theory.
And don’t give me that crap that these Republican Sedition Party dead-enders in the Senate have a “valid legislative purpose.” They are not interested in “election integrity” as the Judge falsely implies. The Sedition Party is the party of voter suppression and voter disenfranchisement in Arizona. There are at least 16 bills in the Arizona legislature right now seeking to suppress the vote, and to even give Republican legislators the right to overrule the will of the voters in an election by giving Republican legislators the right to select presidential electors regardless of the popular vote. They are not entitled to any presumption of good faith. They are acting in bad faith.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1365294681257566213
All 16 Senate Republicans co-sponsored a resolution to find the supervisors in contempt for defying the subpoenas, which authorized Fann to have all five of them arrested and could have potentially led to misdemeanor charges. But the resolution fell one vote short when Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, opposed it, saying he wanted to give the county more time to sort out the legal issues.
Petersen, a Gilbert Republican, later introduced legislation that would expressly authorize legislative chambers and committees to subpoena ballots and other election equipment and materials, and specifies that the legislature has the right to investigate any matter it wants. The Senate has approved the legislation, which now awaits action in the House of Representatives.
They got a favorable judge to give them what they wanted here, there is no need for this unwarranted legislation. It is simply an invitation to engage in chasing after wild conspiracy theories in future elections. Enough is enough.
While the legal battle ensued, the Board of Supervisors conducted its own audits of the election machines. Maricopa County’s ballot tabulation machines are provided by Dominion Voting Systems, the nation’s second largest provider of such equipment, which has been the subject of many conspiracy theories and false allegations since Trump lost the election. [See Karen Fann, below.]
The audits gave the machines and their software a clean bill of health, finding that they weren’t connected to the internet during the election, weren’t hacked or infected with any malicious software, and hadn’t switched any votes during the counting of ballots. The audits were conducted by SLI Compliance and Pro V&V Laboratories, the only two companies accredited by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to certify and examine tabulation machines.
Fann has taken issue with the two companies because they had previously certified Dominion’s machines and software. Fann had looked to hire Allied Systems Operations Group, a Texas company whose employees had served as witnesses for the Trump campaign during various legislative hearings about the election and have a well-documented history of spreading false claims about election fraud in Arizona and other swing states that voted for Biden.
The Senate’s legal counsel told attorneys for Maricopa County that ASOG would serve under another auditor. [ASOG should have no involvement, period!] The Senate drafted a proposed scope of work for ASOG, a step it has not taken for any other prospective auditors.
Fann told the Mirror that she is considering several potential auditors, though she said ASOG likely will not be one of them because some people believe it would not be independent. [Ya think?!]
ASOG and its employees, who have served as witnesses for the Trump campaign, have already repeatedly said there was fraud, made a number of demonstrably false statements, and made a lot of other wild claims that weren't backed up by any evidence. https://t.co/44ihtBNBLi
— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) February 26, 2021
“I think that would be difficult for anyone to select them at that point, just because of the perception out there. However, I do believe they’re fully qualified. However, there’s a perception that they would not be fully independent,” Fann said. [Demonstrating a complete lack of good judgment on her part, and disclosing her true intentions.]
Waldron claimed, without evidence, during a recent report by right-wing cable channel One America News Network that hundreds of thousands of ballots cast in-person in Maricopa County on Election Day were “shifted” to become “absentee ballots” as ballots were counted in the days after the election.
During a legislative hearing in Georgia, Waldron claimed fraudulent ballots were trucked into the state to rig the vote for Biden, though he was unable to provide any evidence under questioning to back up his assertion.
It’s never a good thing when a judge allows nutty conspiracy theorists to chase their wild fantasies down the rabbit hole. No good can come of this.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1365481926648336392
True, Wileybud, but these people are dangerous because they are willing to repeat the lies and they vote accordingly. Gullible supporters, ramped up voter suppression, and denial of facts is how the GOP intends to win. And considering how bad they have been for most people in this country including their own base, they are actually doing fairly well.
Quite frankly, I’ve had it with them. The Democrats have two years to make some things happen. Bi-partisanship is for rational, clear thinking people. It is not for seditious nitwits who would follow Trump off a cliff. The Democrats should just steam roll over them and get stuff done.
I agree with you, though pathetic they are dangerous. Bi-partisanship has worked out to be nothing more than a buzzword. President Biden’s administration is practicing actual unity which is reflected on Democratic policies enjoying widespread support across political lines, just not with the bad faith actors that make up the GOP.
That said, I don’t see Chuck Schumer steamrolling the opposition whether the opposition is within or without the Democratic Party. A strong Majority Leader in the mold of LBJ, someone who wouldn’t put up with Manchin’e or Sinema’s crap is what’s needed at this point in time.
Democrats should be flooding the airwaves & talk shows with what they’re trying to do & how it’s going to benefit everyone but the GOP is solidly standing in the way. Sadly I haven’t seen much evidence of that happening. While the GOP is getting all the attention with their disinformation campaigns. Media has always been part of the problem. So much more coverage of the freak show known as CPAC and so little of a grounded in reality Netroots Nation.
Amen, brother. Amen.
(responding to Wileybud @6:47 in case reply not working)
Is there a sane person left in this country who is not ready to explode when Trump’s Big Lie is perpetuated by his cult followers?
Yeah, I’m looking at you, Ron, Joe, Connie, and Will. The four of you plus the 74 million fools who voted for Trump are dumb AF and do not deserve civil discourse.
The Democrats have a slim majority in Congress and only two years to try to reverse the damage done by Trump and, hopefully, move us forward.
BTW, AZ Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema needs to get her fat a$$ on board with Biden’s agenda.
But getting back to the idiots and racists who support Trump. At some point, and it better be soon, we need to recognize that these people need to be left behind and forgotten, at least in the political sense. Their opinions do not matter. We have to recognize that some of them are just bad people, and there are bad people who have made their way into Congress. The goal should be to outnumber them and outvote them AND, most importantly, improve public education so that we do not continue to produce enough morons to endanger democracy. Too many people have fought too hard to lose it now, or to continue on this path we are on where losing the Republic is entirely possible.
Liza, all those four know is what the right wing media has been spoon feeding them. To put it another way, avid consumers of right wing media are like little baby birds in their nests, heads tilted all the way back with their beaks open, ready to believe whatever regurgitated garbage Rupert & his ilk chooses to drop in there. And the little baby birds eat it up like there’s no tomorrow.
Oh, and when reality conflicts with their beliefs, rather than argue on the merits they resort to puerile personal attacks. And wonder why others don’t take them seriously. Just another reason among many why the world’s greatest democracy can’t have nice things.
All of the audits action performed so far were so useless that nothing could be found if it were staring the auditor in the face! They don’t want to find anything so they can say there is nothing to see here! We have affidavits from people providing there was fraud … but nothing to see here! Move on!!
Would this be the same affidavits laughed out of court by the judges – even Republican judges – in 64 lawsuits. You do realize that an affiant can be subject to cross examination under oath in court? Just because some yahoo says something in an affidavit doesn’t make it true. People lie all the time, just like Donald Trump.
No one should be calling the allegations baseless lies until the investigation is throughly audited. The words alone used in this article are enough evidence that people are afraid of the potential truth.
Multiple audits have already proved the claims baseless. Trump lost 64 out of 65 lawsuits, dismissed on the evidence or rather, lack of evidence (the one win was over a minor deadline they were challenging). Read about it for yourself here. https://www.democracydocket.com/case_type/post-election/
And, if they find there is truth to the fraud claim, will all who interfered with this process be removed and a public apology be made to citizens?
There have been multiple audits done already, with no evidence of any problems. I have audited elections for many years, and there has never been more than an infinitesimally small deviation between machine counts and the hand count audit. I’ll put my years of experience up against your unsupported TRump/QAnon conspiracy theories any day. When they find nothing, will you apologize?
I don’t need to read your article to see where your spin on the news will go. Your inserting the word “incorrectly” in the title says it all. Just tell me what happened not what you think of it.
Thank you Connie Scott, you are 100% right, like we really care about thier opinion, just report the news.
Hey Will, do you and Connie have any evidence to back up your stop the steal scam?
Because if you don’t, you’re accusing people of crimes without any proof, and I think that’s illegal.
I get it, Tr*mper’s don’t care about truth and facts, but seriously, put up or shut up.
You mean like four years of trying to convict President Donald Trump, accusing him of crimes without any proof, I think that’s illegal. Arizonans need to know Election Integrity Matters. I think you too, got some of the AZ BlueMeanie`s bad mushrooms from his make believe Pepperland.
You didn’t answer my question.
Because you can’t.
Cowboy up and admit it.
Here is what Donald Trump’s hometown newspaper, the Palm Beach Post had to say: “Editorial: House impeachment managers proved their case against ex-President Donald Trump”, https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/editorials/2021/02/15/post-editorial-impeachment-managers-trump-guilt-trial/4483146001/
The House managers proved their case.
Even Mitch McConnell said so. “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day [Jan. 6],” the House Republican leader said in jaw-dropping comments moments after Saturday’s historic vote.
Trump’s supporters, McConnell said, launched their violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, which came close to seeing members of Congress and Trump’s own vice president harmed or killed, “because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth, because he was angry he lost an election.”
But despite recognizing Trump’s responsibility for this profound betrayal of the Republic that forms the very name of his party, McConnell sided with 42 other Republicans in declaring Trump “not guilty” of the impeachment charge of inciting the riot.
These senators are men and women whose fear of Trump’s political power overrode their duty to protect the Congress where they themselves were under violent attack, the first since the War of 1812. They failed in their essential duty to protect American values from a demagogue who used threats to state election officials, then a brutal assault on the Capitol in a desperate attempt to overturn the presidential election.
That includes you, Mario Rubio. That includes you, Rick Scott.
McConnell leaned on a technicality — a technicality that he created — in calling it unconstitutional for an ex-president to be impeached. Never mind that the Senate had already voted on this question and decided that Trump’s impeachment was permitted by the Constitution. Never mind that it was McConnell, the wily Senate strategist, who refused to receive the House’s article until after Jan. 20, ensuring that Trump would be an ex-president by then.
[It was jury nullification, disregarding the law of the case and the evidence.]
McConnell was so scathing about Trump’s culpability in this sedition that he reminded America that private-citizen Trump can now be prosecuted in criminal court and sued in civil court for his actions as president: “He didn’t get away with anything — yet.”
In other words, McConnell and senators like him believe that someone should make Trump pay. Anyone but them.”
“Let voters remember their grave disservice to the nation.”
New York, Georgia and District of Columbia prosecutors are working on the indictment and prosecution Mitch McConnell called for.
This blog does analysis and opinion on the news. What part don’t you understand?
It takes her too long to get to her point, but Laurie Roberts of The Republic writes, “Senate election audit is a go but if no fraud is found, a lot of politicians should resign”, https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2021/02/26/arizona-senate-won-heres-how-its-election-investigation-should-go/6837942002/
BUT, if the coming proctology exam turns up no evidence of fraud or human error of the sort that changed the outcome, then the politicians who have spent months spreading baseless lies about a stolen election should be held accountable for their actions.
It’s a given that Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Debbie Lesko would need to go. These three Arizona congressional representatives stood on the House floor and voted to invalidate their own state’s election results.
But don’t forget state Rep. Mark Finchem and Sens. Kelly Townsend and Wendy Rogers and the nearly two dozen other Republicans who have slandered our system to the point where it may take years to restore voter confidence in our elections — and thus in those who we elect.
Should the coming Senate audit result in a finding that nothing nefarious happened here, every Republican official who screamed “Stop the Steal” should resign in shame.
Every. Last. One Of Them.