Cyber Ninjas, the lead contractor hired by the Arizona Senate to conduct an audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, was found in contempt of court Thursday in a legal dispute over access to documents.
The ruling doled out by Maricopa Superior Court Judge John Hannah requires the Florida-based firm to pay $50,000 a day until it releases the documents sought under the Arizona Public Records law.
The Arizona Republic sued Cyber Ninjas and the state Senate for access to documents, including text messages and emails, and had asked the court for a lower penalty of $1,000 for each day for defying the judge’s August order for the records to be turned over.
“It is lucidly clear on this record that Cyber Ninjas has disregarded that order,” Hannah said. “I don’t think I have to find Cyber Ninjas is not acting in good faith. All I have to do is find they are not complying and their noncompliance is not based on good faith and reasonable interpretation of the order. I think the variety of creative positions Cyber Ninjas has taken to avoid compliance with this order speaks for itself.”
Hannah said the fees are “intended to be coercive but not punitive” and that he will issue more orders in the future to go after individuals if the company continues not to comply.
ARIZONA SENATE LIAISON SAYS ‘IMPORTANT’ MARICOPA ELECTION AUDIT FINDINGS IMMINENT
The state Senate, led by President Karen Fann, has turned over thousands of documents related to the audit. Still, it has resisted handing over other records it claims are covered by legislative privilege.
John Wilenchik, the lawyer for Cyber Ninjas, was blocked by the judge from removing himself as the firm’s attorney on claims he has not been paid. He also said Doug Logan is now the “former” CEO of Cyber Ninjas and that the company has let go of its employees, the Arizona Republic reported.
“The court is not going to accept the assertion that Cyber Ninjas is an empty shell and that nobody is responsible for seeing that it complies,” Hannah said. “I do not believe I’ve had a more important case in the 16 years I’ve been on the bench.”
The report said Cyber Ninjas previously indicated to the court that plaintiffs should pay the federal rate for producing public records and that it would cost between $65,000 and $70,000 in this case.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The audit made headlines as Cyber Ninjas was criticized for lacking prior audit experience and after a report released last fall showed no proof of fraud that former President Donald Trump and his allies claim to have cost him the November contest in Arizona. But Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked Maricopa County to preserve materials related to the 2020 election for an investigation and possible litigation over how the county administered the contest following a state Senate referral outlining “urgent issues” the auditors did find.
Election officials in Maricopa County released a 93-page point-by-point partisan rebuttal Wednesday that claimed almost every finding in the audit contained “faulty analysis, inaccurate claims, misleading information, and the lack of understanding of state and federal laws.”
