Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs urged Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential race.
Hobbs, a Democrat running for governor, insisted the 45th president and others engaged in behaviors that “involve clear efforts to induce supervisors to refuse to comply with their duties,” as she referenced at least one alleged felony violation in a letter to the state’s top prosecutor. Hobbs cited repeated phone calls from the White House in early January directed at Clint Hickman, a Republican and top Maricopa County supervisor, and voicemails from Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward.
“As you said just last week, ‘Fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic, and they start with rational laws that protect both the right to vote and the accuracy of the results,’” Hobbs wrote, according to the Arizona Republic. “Arizona law protects election officials from those who would seek to interfere with their sacred duties to ascertain and certify the will of the voters.”
GEORGIA ON HIS MIND, MARICOPA COUNTY OFFICIAL ‘HORRIFIED’ WHEN TRUMP CALLED AFTER 2020 ELECTION
The news outlet recently obtained multiple text messages and voicemails that Trump wanted to chat with Hickman, who said he ignored the White House at the time. Hickman described the barrage of messages as “horrifying” after it was revealed Trump attempted to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” a number that would grant him a victory in the state awarded to President Joe Biden.
That call is now under scrutiny as part of a criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election in Fulton County.
Audio recordings of Giuliani were also obtained by the Arizona news outlet.
“If you get a chance, would you please give me a call?” Trump’s former personal lawyer said in a Nov. 30 message. “I have a few things I’d like to talk over with you. Maybe we can get this thing fixed up. You know, I really think it’s a shame that Republicans sort of are both in this kind of situation. And I think there may be a nice way to resolve this for everybody.”
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Similar to Georgia, Arizona was a reliably red state that narrowly went Biden’s way in 2020. The election may be over, but the fight over Maricopa County is still underway.
The GOP-led Arizona Senate commissioned an audit of the November contest, which began after sparring in court with the county. The findings are expected to be released later this summer.
Maricopa County officials and Hobbs have repeatedly raised concerns about the inquiry.
Brnovich, a Republican, recently defended the audit against criticism from the Justice Department. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner on Hobbs’s request.
