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Arizona Senate Speaker Karen Fan discussed the so-called “audit” of Maricopa County ballots with former President Donald Trump, who thanked her for following along, according to emails released to left-leaning government watchdog American Oversight after a request Freedom of Information Act. .
The emails released on Friday, many of them written on Fann’s smartphone, span from late November to mid-May. In it, the Republican describes the post-election review as a way to ensure voter confidence in the electoral process, despite the fact that a manual recount and two independent reviews in Maricopa County showed no evidence of widespread irregularities or fraud.
Finn also tried to attract voters in emails from across the political spectrum, whether or not they agreed to the review. In response to criticism over email from voters who were pushing her to take action on the scrutiny, she referenced her conversation with the former president. In response to audit criticism, she suggested it was a way to refute conspiracies and improve the system.
Arizona Senate Speaker Karen Fan speaks to the media in Phoenix, May 26, 2020.
Fann ordered an “audit” through the state Senate’s subpoenas and chose a cybersecurity firm – CyberNinjas – that had minimal experience in the field of elections and whose founder had espoused conspiracy theories about the election on his since-deleted Twitter account.
The review process appears to be close to the finish line, based on the frequency of poll turnover. Some state Republicans estimate that vote counting will be over by next week and that additional analysis of the results will follow before a full report is released, although it is unclear what this latest step will entail. The efforts began in late April and were supposed to be finished by mid-May, but had to be extended after they missed the deadline. The officials who conducted the review, who said they expected to be fully completed by the end of the month, could not be reached for comment.
Most critical emails accused Fan of not fighting for the integrity of the election and Trump. Others threatened to vote for Van and other top Republican officials out of office if they did not conduct audits and expose the “fraud.”
“You may not be aware that our Senate is doing everything legally possible to accomplish a forensic audit and we are suing Maricopa Boss,” she said, referring to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. “I’ve had many conversations with Rudy Giuliani over the past weeks. I’m trying to get that done. I have his full support and a personal call from President Trump thanks us for pushing to prove any fraud.”
Former President Donald Trump applauds to the crowd after he speaks at the North Carolina Republican Convention, June 5, 2021, in Greenville, North Carolina
I told another senator that the Senate must have been deliberate in its quest for an “audit,” as it could be the first of many.
“The whole nation is watching because this can be the basis for lawsuits or challenges which means everyone has to be dotted and bypassed,” she wrote.
Despite her suggestion that the Senate might find fraud, Fann also attempted to appeal to those who did not support the review. In response to a founding memo that described the “scrutiny” as a waste of taxpayer money, Fan said she believed President Joe Biden had won.
“This is where you go wrong,” she said on May 21. “Biden won. 45% of all Arizona voters believe there is a problem with the election system. Scrutiny is to refute these theories or find ways to improve the system.”
Another email showed that Van expresses her distaste for the operation.
“I can’t explain how much I hate this whole thing,” she wrote. “As President of the Senate, I am bound to do my duty to uphold our Constitution and our laws, as well as to follow the wishes of the caucus. This is a unanimous decision by every member as each has taken an oath. We were also encouraged by thousands of emails And the calls we receive from our constituents across the state are asking us to satisfy an independent criminal audit to restore confidence in our electoral system.”
“Personally, I don’t think we will find anything outside the scope of the normal irregularities that we conduct in every election, but I am willing to put in that extra effort if it puts these questions and concerns to rest,” she added.
Fan also wrote several times to voters that the post-election review was not intended to invalidate the election results.
“The Senate’s intentions were never about nullifying the electorate or overturning the will of the electorate,” she wrote. “I think we should do everything we can to make sure that this system is actually safe to maintain the integrity of the Arizona election system. We owe that to all voters, regardless of party.”
Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are checked and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, May 6, 2021.
The emails also reveal a certain degree of coordination with One America News Network, a far-right media outlet that has increased the reach of scrutiny that other news organizations do not.
OANN’s Christina Pope, a character present at the audit, sent Fann’s pages with her testimony at Giuliani’s request, according to the emails. Finn also exchanged a number of emails with Bob about the schedule and initial details of the review.
“Mayor Giuliani has asked me to send you these statements. He will follow up with you too,” Bob wrote in an email to Van on December 4th.
Finn replied, “Thank you, Christina.” “I have sent this information to Speaker Powers, our Chief of Staff, and our attorneys.”
Another email showed that Van and Bob had previously talked about affidavits.
“I think we’re looking for all the additional information your team said you were going to send because they didn’t have them. The additional certificates, the lists with the names of deceased or illegal aliens who voted, and so on.” I wrote. Another email showed that she is sending someone looking to donate to fund the audit to the nonprofit Bob Foundation, which she formed to raise money for the audit. Bob directed her social media followers to donate to taxpayer-funded efforts and an undisclosed amount of private donations, asking them to help “get this review across the finish line”. The Arizona Republican Party later announced that OAN would have the exclusive broadcast rights to audit.
Bob told BuzzFeed News in late May that she was unable to increase the reach of scrutiny that other media outlets had not. She told BuzzFeed that OAN is “in no way” involved in the fundraising effort, other than allowing her to be mentioned on air, adding that the network has received nothing as a result of those donations.
Aside from Fan’s conversations with Bob, several of the Senate president’s emails also showed that she was critical of media coverage of the scrutiny, telling voters not to trust the “liberal media.”
“We are planning a 100% full audit,” Fan wrote in an email in late March. “The liberal media continues to try to discredit our efforts. Less public information is better at this time.”
Fann’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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