{"id":481282,"date":"2021-05-07T11:35:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T15:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=481282"},"modified":"2021-05-07T11:37:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T15:37:48","slug":"biden-doj-attempts-to-stop-arizona-election-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-doj-attempts-to-stop-arizona-election-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Biden DOJ Attempts To Stop Arizona Election Audit\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-doj-attempts-to-stop-arizona-election-audit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=481282&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>The Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) is intervening in the election auditing efforts by Republicans in Maricopa County, Arizona, sending a letter Wednesday to the president of the Arizona state Senate suggesting the recount is illegal.<\/div>\n<div class=\"e12o35pe0 css-1wr5klf\">\n<p>The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/arizona-recount-justice-department\/2021\/05\/06\/fbe4793c-ae87-11eb-b476-c3b287e52a01_story.html\">reported<\/a> Thursday that the DOJ letter raises \u201cthe possibility of a clash between state and federal authorities over the audit.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"teaser-content\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<div data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\">\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md \" data-el=\"text\">Penned by Pamela S. Karlan, who heads the DOJ\u2019s civil rights division, the letter suggests \u201cthat the recount of nearly 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County by a private contractor may not comply with federal law, which requires that ballots be securely maintained for 22 months following a federal election,\u201d the Post noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"remainder-content\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<div data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\">\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md \" data-el=\"text\">\u201cWe have a concern that Maricopa County election records, which are required by federal law to be retained and preserved, are no longer under the ultimate control of elections officials, are not being adequately safeguarded by contractors, and are at risk of damage or loss,\u201d wrote Karlan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-el=\"text\">Back in February, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/az-judge-sides-with-senate-gop-over-audit-of-millions-of-ballots-election-equipment\">disagreed<\/a> with Karlan\u2019s current analysis. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/az-judge-sides-with-senate-gop-over-audit-of-millions-of-ballots-election-equipment\">The Daily Wire<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p><em>Senate Republicans and the GOP-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors disagreed about the accessibility of the ballots; the Senate wanted to perform an audit to address election integrity concerns from constituents, whereas the board argued the ballots, by law, were to be kept secret for 24 months following the election. The judge scolded the parties for failing to come to an agreement on their own but sided with the Senate, suggesting the law in question does not conflict with the subpoenas.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThere is no question that the Senators have the power to issue legislative subpoenas,\u201d Judge Thomason wrote at the time, <a href=\"https:\/\/ktar.com\/story\/4102892\/judge-rules-arizona-senate-can-get-access-to-2-1-million-ballots\/\">according<\/a> to The Associated Press. \u201cThe Subpoenas comply with the statutory requirements for legislative subpoenas. The Senate also has broad constitutional power to oversee elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Arizona legislature clearly has the power to investigate and examine election reform matters,\u201d the ruling said. \u201cThe Subpoenas also do not violate separation of powers principles. Production of the subpoenaed materials would not violate confidentiality laws.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"remainder-content\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<div data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\">\n<p data-el=\"text\">Karlan also questioned the role of Florida-based Cyber Ninjas, the private contractor tapped to lead the audit, arguing that the company potentially speaking to voters about their vote \u201ccould violate federal laws prohibiting voter intimidation,\u201d the Post said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\">\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md \" data-el=\"text\">Former Arizona secretary of state Ken Bennett, the audit\u2019s spokesman, reportedly plans to argue that the ballots at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix \u201care being guarded 24 hours a day and are not in any danger,\u201d the report added. Moreover, Bennett contends \u201cCyber Ninjas has not yet begun interviewing voters but said the company has pledged to do nothing that would constitute intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\">\n<p data-el=\"text\">\u201cThis is a matter between the Arizona Senate and Maricopa County,\u201d he emphasized. \u201cWe don\u2019t see any grounds for anyone else to intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-el=\"text\">Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who sparked the letter from the DOJ, \u00a0said the AZ audit is a GOP attempt at creating the \u201cplaybook\u201d to use \u201cacross the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\">\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md \" data-el=\"text\">She told the Post that she thinks the Biden DOJ \u201cis at a place where they don\u2019t think they legally can send in observers. But they\u2019re certainly paying attention to what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p data-el=\"text\"><span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\">On Wednesday, the official account for the audit posted to Twitter, \u201cDemocrat [Katie Hobbs]<\/span><span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\"> who does not support election audits or transparency now wants the Federal Government to get involved in the Arizona Senate forensic audit. Arizona has the authority to conduct this audit without interference from the Feds!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Democrat SoS <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katiehobbs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@katiehobbs<\/a> who does not support election audits or transparency now wants the Federal Government to get involved in the Arizona Senate forensic audit. Arizona has the authority to conduct this audit without interference from the Feds!<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Maricopa Arizona Audit (@ArizonaAudit) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ArizonaAudit\/status\/1390138407356014596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) is intervening in the election auditing efforts by Republicans in Maricopa County, Arizona, sending a letter Wednesday\u00a0to the president of the Arizona state Senate &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-481282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}