AG Threatens State Funds If County Doesn't Comply With Audit

PHOENIX, AZ — Maricopa County could lose state revenue if it doesn't comply with a subpoena related to the Senate's audit of the 2020 General Election.

"We are notifying the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors that it must fully comply with the Senate’s subpoena as required by the law,” Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a news release. “Our courts have spoken. The rule of law must be followed."

If the county board doesn't change course and comply with the subpoena, Brnovich said he plans to tell the state treasurer to withhold the county's state-shared funds.

On July 26, the state Senate subpoenaed a list of items from Maricopa County related to the election, including routers and network logs. Those items were to be delivered by Aug. 2.

In a response to the subpoena, Maricopa County provided a lengthy explanation to Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican, as to why it would not provide the subpoenaed items.

The county said that providing routers could pose "significant security risks." Sensitive information that the county says could be exposed include citizen Social Security numbers and health data. It could also open up the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office internal communications to hackers, the county said.

The county objected to the subpoena on several grounds, including that it was filed when the state Senate was not in session, it lacked sufficient notice for the county to gather the documents and items requested and said that the subpoena was "an abuse of process or designed merely to harass." The county also said that some of the subpoenaed items had already been provided to the audit team.

Brnovich said in the release that he had not yet received any official reports on the Senate's election audit.