Special Counsel Subpoenas Arizona GQP Leaders For Records Of Communications With Trump Coup Plotters

The Arizona Mirror reports, GOP Arizona legislators, including leaders of the House and Senate, subpoenaed to testify in special counsel probe of Trump (h/t above image):

At least three Arizona Republican state legislators have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Justice Department’s special counsel, Jack Smith, as part of the criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump and his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss.

The federal grand jury subpoenas were issued to Senate President Warren Petersen, Sen. Sonny Borrelli and House Speaker Ben Toma. And at least one former state senator, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who led the Senate’s Election Committee in 2021, received a subpoena. All four have been ordered to produce records and travel to Washington, D.C., to testify.

The Arizona Mirror obtained a copy of one of the subpoenas on the condition that it would not be published. In addition to the command to testify before the grand jury, the office of the special counsel is demanding any documents already provided to the congressional panel that investigated the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot and any documents given to any other state or federal inquiry related to the 2020 presidential election.

The subpoena also seeks all communications with Trump or his campaign. It also specifies 18 different campaign employees, attorneys and surrogates: Kenneth Chesebro, Justin Clark, Joe DiGenova, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Boris Epshteyn, Rudy Giuliani, Bernard Kerik, Bruce Marks, Cleta Mitchell, Matthew Morgan, Kurt Olsen, William Olson, Sidney Powell, Bill Stepien, Victoria Toensing, James Troupis and L. Lin Wood.

The state Senate and House of Representatives both confirmed the existence of the subpoenas for the three sitting lawmakers, but refused to release them under the state’s public records law or to discuss if other lawmakers were also subpoenaed. Spokespeople and legislative attorneys also refused to answer questions about the subpoenas.

“The Special Counsel’s Office has informed us that public release of its subpoenas could impede its investigation and interfere with federal law enforcement,” Pete Galvan, an associate rules attorney in the Senate, wrote in an email. “In light of the position of the Special Counsel’s office, the Senate won’t release the materials at this time but may revisit the issue in the future as circumstances change.”

A House attorney also initially cited a request from the Special Counsel’s Office to keep the records secret as justification. Upon further questioning, both Justin Riches, the House’s public records counsel, and Galvan said the legislative bodies were under no obligation to release the subpoenas because of case law and administrative rules allowing records to be shielded if doing so is “in the best interests of the state.”

Ugenti-Rita did not respond to questions about the subpoena.

Borrelli, Petersen, Toma and Ugenti-Rita are not the first Arizona officials to be subpoenaed by the Justice Department in connection to Trump’s effort to convince GOP officials in battleground states he lost to overturn the election results in a bid to retain power. In November, officials in Maricopa County were among the first to receive subpoenas from Smith’s office.

And before Smith was appointed late last year, the FBI subpoenaed at least two Republican state senators — then-President Karen Fann and Kelly Townsend — as part of its investigation into Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the 2020 election.

The DOJ is still far short of a number of Coup Plotter co-conspirators. What about these Stop The Steal hearing participants, who were part of an early stage of the Coup Plot?

Those earlier subpoenas to Maricopa County and the former senators sought communication records with 19 different Trump campaign members, attorneys or surrogates, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood.

What about with “Ginni” Thomas? Ginni Thomas pressed 29 Arizona lawmakers to help overturn Trump’s defeat, emails show?

And what about the Arizona GQP Coup Plotter co-conspirators who signed on to Sen. Wendy Rogers’ letter urging Vice President Pence to “decertify’ the election?

BREAKING: 186 Legislators from 39 States Write a Letter to the American People Calling for a 50-State Audit, Decertification Where Appropriate, and Possible Convening of the US House of Representatives (1/2) pic.twitter.com/syGpDm5fN9

— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) November 23, 2021

And what about the 29 Republican state legislators – including several just elected but not yet seated – who signed a three-page “Joint Resolution of the 54th Legislature” asking Congress to accept the 11 “alternate” electoral votes for Trump or “to have all electoral votes nullified completely until a full forensic audit can be conducted”?

Here are the then-current and incoming Republican state legislators who signed the resolution asking Congress to accept Arizona’s fake electors: Sen. Kelly Townsend of Mesa, Rep. Bret Roberts of Maricopa, Rep. Kevin Payne of Peoria, Rep. Mark Finchem of Oro Valley, Sen. David Farnsworth of Mesa, Sen. Sonny Borrelli of Lake Havasu City, Rep. Leo Biasiucci, of Lake Havasu City, Rep. Anthony Kern of Glendale, Rep. David Cook of Globe, Sen. Sylvia Allen of Snowflake, Rep. John Fillmore of Apache Junction, Sen. Nancy Barto of Phoenix, Rep. Travis Grantham of Gilbert, Senate Majority Leader Warren Petersen of Gilbert, Rep. Walter Blackman of Snowflake, Rep. Steve Pierce of Prescott, Rep. Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix, Rep. Tony Rivero of Peoria, Rep. Noel Campbell of Prescott.

Also concurring: Sen. David Gowan of Sierra Vista, outgoing Rep. Bob Thorpe of Flagstaff, Reps. Jacqueline Parker of Mesa, Brenda Barton of Payson, Beverly Pingerelli of Peoria, Joseph Chaplik of Scottsdale, Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek, Judy Burges of Skull Valley, Quang Nguyen of Prescott Valley and Sen. Wendy Rogers of Flagstaff.

Prior to that, the Department of Justice had subpoenaed Arizona GQP party officials who signed a document that would have sent fake electors (below) to Congress backing Trump [but not all eleven fake GQP electors pictured.]. Among them was Kelli Ward, then the chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

Smith’s probe appears to be intensifying and moving aggressively. This month, he issued a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence, and some sources have reportedly been called to testify to the grand jury multiple times.

Every damn insurrectionist co-conspirator who participated in Trump’s Coup Plot at any stage of the multi-stage Coup Plot must be held accountable at law for their lawless and traitorous conduct. Not one of them should walk away free to be able to do it again. The DOJ should issue subpoenas and indictments to every one of these damn traitors!