A new judge was assigned to oversee a Democratic-backed legal challenge to the Arizona GOP state Senate-led election audit after the judge who initially heard the case withdrew himself.
The case was reassigned to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin soon after Judge Christopher Coury issued an order Sunday afternoon recusing himself from the case due to the involvement of an attorney who had worked as an extern in his office within the last five years.
BREAKING New judge assigned to Arizona Senate GOP audit challenge. Both sides get 10 days to tell judge what they think needs to happen next. Meantime, audit continues at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. pic.twitter.com/rJgV2EtS1q
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) April 26, 2021
Coury’s recusal came after the court received filings Sunday at 4 p.m. mentioning new attorneys for the first time, including Chris Viskovic, who was the former extern.
MARICOPA COUNTY JUDGE RECUSES HIMSELF FROM LAWSUIT OVER SENATE REPUBLICANS’ ELECTION AUDIT
Democrats argued the audit violates state election security laws and sued to stop the review one day before it was set to begin but declined to pay a $1 million bond set by Coury that would have enacted a temporary pause. The judge ordered the auditors to provide documents about their procedures for a hearing at 11 a.m. local time on Monday.
The GOP-led Arizona Senate hired Cyber Ninjas to lead the audit review, which is taking place in Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
Democrats requested an “immediate hearing” after Martin stepped in as the reassigned judge. A new hearing is slated for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, per lawyers on the case, a local NBC reporter noted.
On Monday, a group called the First Amendment Coalition asked the court to reject Cyber Ninjas’s attempt to close its hearing to the public and media. The company has requested the hearing be closed to the public, arguing in court filings it does not want to reveal “trade secrets,” as well as information outsiders might use to harm the audit.
The state Senate’s audit of the 2020 contest includes a recount of the 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County and a forensic audit of the voting machines. Although President Joe Biden narrowly carried the state of Arizona in the 2020 contest, the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since former President Bill Clinton in 1996, the state’s electoral tally was subjected to multiple recounts and several rounds of litigation, including the Maricopa County audit.
Democrats have raised suspicions over the legitimacy of the audit due to past online posts from Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, who has reportedly been an active promoter of the “Stop the Steal” movement.
Former President Donald Trump, who claimed the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, has endorsed the efforts to audit the election in Maricopa County and has repeatedly slammed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, alleging he is refusing to provide security for the audit.
“Incredible organization and integrity taking place in Arizona with respect to the Fraudulent 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump wrote Monday afternoon. “These are Great American Patriots, but watch, the Radical Left Democrats ‘demean and destroy campaign’ will start very soon.”
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Trump has criticized Ducey in the past, saying he “betrayed the people of Arizona” when he certified Biden’s 2020 victory in his state.
The Arizona GOP censured Ducey in January, along with former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, after the trio of Republicans either did not support Trump’s bid to overturn the election results or endorsed Biden before the election. Ducey was also censured for wielding “dictatorial powers” by imposing restrictions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
