Author: Rachel Alexander

State Bar of Arizona Disciplinary Panel Dismisses Complaint Against Kari Lake’s Two Attorneys over Voting Machine Tabulator Lawsuit

Rachel Alexander
Margaret Downie

A disciplinary panel for the State Bar of Arizona (SBA) dismissed complaints filed against two of Kari Lake’s attorneys that were brought over their work representing Kari Lake in a 2022 lawsuit, Lake v. Hobbs, challenging the use of voting machine tabulators in elections. The panel of three, led by Presiding Disciplinary Judge Margaret Downie, found that the SBA did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that Kurt Olsen — who represented himself and isn’t a licensed member of the SBA — and Andrew Parker violated any ethics rules. The decision cited a recent opinion from the Arizona Supreme Court, Ariz. Republican Party v. Richer, which held that attorneys should not be sanctioned for bringing election lawsuits. 

U.S. District Court Judge John Tuchi, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, ordered sanctions of $122,200 against Olsen, Parker, and attorney Alan Dershowitz over a year ago for bringing the lawsuit. The sanctions were requested by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who were represented by Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. The Maricopa County Republican Committee censured Mitchell over the representation.

Read the full story

Stephen Richer Ordered to Pay $25k to Merissa Hamilton for over 100,000 Documents He Required Her to Produce in Kari Lake Defamation Lawsuit

Rachel Alexander
Stephen Richer

A trial court judge ordered Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer earlier this month to pay grassroots activist Merissa Hamilton $25,345.50 for the costs of over 100,000 documents she produced in response to a subpoena from him.

Richer sued Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake for defamation last year over remarks she made accusing him of intentionally inserting 300,000 ballots into the 2022 election. As part of the lawsuit, he subpoenaed documents from Hamilton and others. The ballots in question lacked a chain of custody, which is a class 2 misdemeanor.

Read the full story

Progressive Knight Foundation Training Journalists on How to Write About Likely 2024 Election Lawsuits

Rachel Alexander
Heather Gerkin, Bob Bauer, Ben Ginsberg

The progressive Knight Foundation (KF) is providing training to journalists ahead of the 2024 general election on election related legal issues. KF announced in July that the organization would fund election news coverage “primarily in swing states.” It will also provide journalists with “explainers and training …from The Associated Press.”

“One local news organization in each swing state will also receive a grant to serve as an ‘anchor,’ bolstering the distribution of election-related coverage with editorial partners in their state.” So far, most of KF’s grants in Arizona have gone to Arizona State University.

Read the full story

Crowd Fills Glendale Stadium for Rally with Donald Trump and New Supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Rachel Alexander
Donald Trump Rally Arizona

Thousands showed up for a Donald Trump rally with Turning Point USA in Glendale west of Phoenix, with many lining up overnight to get good seats. Robert Kennedy Jr. joined Trump at the Desert Diamond Arena to show his support, having suspended his presidential campaign in Arizona and nine other battleground states just hours earlier. Kennedy said earlier at a press conference in downtown Phoenix that if he stayed in the race, it might allow Kamala Harris to win the presidential race since he would take votes away from Trump.

Several candidates running for office in Arizona spoke before Trump, including congressional candidates and Kari Lake, who is running for U.S. Senate. Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk said Americans are tired of sending $200 billion to Ukraine when the U.S.’s own borders aren’t secure. He said American citizens should be prioritized over foreigners. 

Read the full story

Phoenix Police Department Releases Police Reports, Other Documentation to Refute DOJ’s Report That Its Officers Violated Rights

Rachel Alexander
Phoenix Police Department

The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) released redacted documents this week that show the DOJ left out relevant information to the incidents discussed in a June DOJ report critical of the agency.

Based on the descriptions, PPD was able to discern 120 of the 132 incidents. PPD said it provided roughly 179,000 documents and 22,000 body cam videos to the DOJ during its investigation. The types of incidents covered were the use of force, homelessness, discriminatory policing, protected speech, behavioral health youth, and contributing causes.

Read the full story

Grassroots Groups Join GOP to Provide Election Integrity Training in Scottsdale, Tucson

Rachel Alexander
Protect the Vote

Several grassroots groups, including the Voter Reference Foundation run by Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda, put on election integrity training in Scottsdale and Tucson on Monday.  Organized by America First Policy Institute (AFPI), speakers from the Honest Elections Project, Heritage Action for America, Save Our States Action, and American Constitutional Rights Union Action taught attendees how to work at the polls, observe elections, and educated them on the Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) proposition on the ballot and efforts to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Jordan Kittleson, policy director of AFPI, moderated the event, asking the experts questions and commenting on them.  Organized by America First Policy Institute (AFPI), speakers from the Honest Elections Project, Heritage Action for America, Save Our States Action, and American Constitutional Rights Union Action taught attendees how to work at the polls, observe elections, and educated them on the Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) proposition on the ballot and efforts to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Jordan Kittleson, policy director of AFPI, moderated the event, asking the experts questions and commenting on them.

Read the full story

Arizona Court of Appeals Hears Oral Arguments over Scottsdale’s ‘Bait and Switch’ Description of ‘New’ Prop. 490 Park Sales Tax as a Tax Decrease

Rachel Alexander
Attorney Scott Day Freeman

A three-judge panel on the Arizona Court of Appeals heard oral arguments last Tuesday in the Goldwater Institute’s (GI) legal challenge to a $1.2 billion sales tax the City of Scottsdale referred to the ballot this fall. GI said the City’s description of Proposition 490 made the tax for parks out to be a tax decrease, when it really was a new tax. GI was appealing a dismissal of its lawsuit by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano.

In its executive summary about the lawsuit, GI stated, “The City of Scottsdale is attempting to trick Scottsdale residents into approving a tax increase by calling it a tax reduction.” GI cited Arizona law, Molera v. Hobbs, which prohibits bait and switch tactics with ballot measures. 

Read the full story

America First Policy Institute, AZGOP Chair, Other Groups Offering Training in Arizona on Monday for Poll Watching and Election Integrity

Rachel Alexander
Poll Worker

Several grassroots organizations are organizing an educational seminar titled “Protect the Vote” in Arizona on Monday, with events in Scottsdale and Tucson. Organized by America First Policy Institute (AFPI), the seminar includes Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Gina Swoboda, who heads the Voter Reference Foundation, and speakers from the Honest Elections Project, Heritage Action for America, Save Our States Action, and American Constitutional Rights Union Action.

“The primary objective of these grassroots seminar events is to educate the public on the background and mechanics of the jungle primary and ranked choice voting system, including an in-depth discussion on the many examples of where it’s been implemented and proven unsuccessful,” AFPI Policy Director Jordan Kittleson told The Arizona Sun Times. “We will also be providing attendees with a comprehensive poll worker and poll watcher training presentation that will equip them with the readiness resources and tools needed to better ensure citizen engagement at polling locations in November.”

Read the full story

Arizona Right to Life Files Opening Brief with Arizona Supreme Court Opposing Radical Nine-Month Abortion Proposition on the Ballot

Rachel Alexander
Arizona Abortion Supporters

Arizona Right to Life (AZRTL) appealed a trial court judge’s rejection of its lawsuit challenging the Right to Abortion Initiative, Prop. 139, which will appear on the ballot this fall.

AZRTL filed an opening brief with the Arizona Supreme Court on Monday, asking the court “to find the Ballot Measure legally insufficient for placement on the Arizona Ballot because the petition’s summary misrepresented and concealed the principal provisions of the Ballot Measure.” Prop. 139 will legalize abortion up until ninth months of pregnancy, including partial-birth abortion.

Read the full story

Pinal County Supervisor Files Complaint with Arizona Attorney General Alleging Cheating in 2024 Primary Election, Cites ‘Hush Money’ Recording

Rachel Alexander
Kevin Cavanaugh

Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office asking for an investigation into possible election fraud in Pinal County’s primary election. He examined the ballot counting and believes six of the local races were artificially manipulated, and he also heard from a friend that a county elections IT employee confessed to taking hush money regarding the cheating. 

Cavanaugh ran for Pinal County Sheriff, and became suspicious after he lost in the primary. Looking into things, he said in a 19-page report he issued about the problems, “A recording exists of a discussion about hush-money payments being made to an employee inside elections and we have turned that over to outside law enforcement.” Cavanaugh provided The Arizona Sun Times with a copy of the recording he made and said that the FBI is investigating.

Read the full story

Colorado Jury Unanimously Finds Tina Peters Guilty on Seven of 10 Counts

Rachel Alexander
Tina Peters

The trial of former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters ended on Monday, with the jury unanimously finding her guilty of seven of the 10 counts she was charged with. Peters was prosecuted in relation to backing up an election server since she said she believed that a scheduled upgrade of the election software would override election files that were required to be saved for 22-25 months by federal and state law, and she was concerned there was election fraud in the 2020 and 2021 elections.

After deliberating for around three hours, the jury found Peters guilty on three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, official misconduct, violation of a duty, failure to comply with requirements from the Colorado Secretary of State (COSOS), and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. She was found not guilty on another count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation, and identity theft.

Read the full story

Former Trump DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Appeals D.C. Disciplinary Panel’s Recommendation to Suspend His Law License for Two Years

Rachel Alexander
Jeffery Clark

Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark is appealing the recommendation of a disciplinary panel to suspend his law license for two years over his role assisting Trump in dealing with 2020 election irregularities. A three-member committee of the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility found on August 1 that he breached broad and vague attorneys ethics rules by drafting a letter that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options for handling the 2020 election problems. 

In response, Clark filed a Petition for Review with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on August 7, requesting consideration of his interlocutory appeals. Interlocutory appeals are appeals conducted while other proceedings are still ongoing. 

Read the full story

Kari Lake Holds Press Conference with Trump Campaign in Advance of Kamala Harris’s Visit to Arizona, Tangles with Mainstream Media

Rachel Alexander
Kari Lake

Kari Lake and the Trump campaign held a press conference on Thursday in anticipation of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s visit to the state on Friday. Lake, who is running for U.S. Senate and emceed the event, got into it with several members of the mainstream media who asked her questions, and criticized their lack of coverage of important events. Several officials joined Lake speaking, along with a Democratic couple who lost their teenage son to fentanyl.

https://x.com/KariLake/status/1821639199101194544

Lake addressed Harris’s event Friday evening at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, her vice presidential pick. “We know that Kamala Harris is coming to Arizona again tomorrow, and again, she won’t visit the border. The border czar won’t be visiting the border. Apparently the only wall that she supports is her VP pick by the name of Walz, I guess.” The attendees, who were mostly standing behind her holding campaign signs, laughed loudly.

Read the full story

America First Legal Sues Maricopa County for Refusing to Remove Noncitizens and Illegal Immigrants from Their Voter Rolls Before the Election

Rachel Alexander

America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit on Monday against Maricopa County, including Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, for failing to remove noncitizens and illegal immigrants from their voter rolls. AFL sent letters to election officials in all 15 Arizona counties in July, demanding they fulfill their legal obligations within a week or AFL would sue them. 

The complaint says 35,273 registered voters in Arizona had failed to provide proof of citizenship and were registered as federal-only voters as of April 2024, a number that continues to increase, according to a report from Maricopa County. That report revealed that between April 1 and July 3, the numbers increased from 21,595 to 26,108, a jump of 21 percent. Additionally, the complaint cited a July 2024 survey of likely voters in Arizona and five other states, which found that over 1 percent said they are not U.S. citizens. AFL stated that recent races in Arizona have been decided by margins of less than 1 percent.

Read the full story

In Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Trial, Prosecution’s Partisan Witness Sobs, Other Witnesses Backtrack

Rachel Alexander
Stephanie Wenholz testifies

The third fully live streamed day of the trial against former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters featured testimony from a partisan election employee who sobbed for about five minutes while speaking, as well as backtracking from other witnesses when cross-examined by Peters’ attorney. Peters is being prosecuted for her role in attempting to take a video of a software update on Dominion voting machines. She was concerned that overriding the election files with the upgrade would violate both state and federal law requiring retention of files for 22-25 months. 

Stephanie Wenholz, the elections manager for Mesa County, broke down in tears when asked about the day she found out that the Colorado Secretary of State’s (COSOS) office was investigating Mesa County over the incident. Although Wenholz admitted that Peters instructed employees not to speak with law enforcement, but to direct them to her and her attorneys instead, Wenholz said she contacted Detective James Cannon, the chief investigator for the Mesa County District Attorney. 

Read the full story

Prosecution’s Key Witness in Trial Against Former Mesa County Clerk Repeatedly Claims He Doesn’t Remember Much

Rachel Alexander

The trial against former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters wrapped up its first week on Friday, featuring testimony by witnesses for the prosecution including IT professional Gerald Wood. Peters, who is charged with crimes related to making a copy of an election database since she was concerned that not keeping the files for two years would violate the law, hired Wood to help her with technical issues, but Wood repeatedly stated he couldn’t remember much when her attorney cross-examined him. 

Wood, who ended up not performing any work for Peters, spent much of his time on the witness stand distancing himself from the appearance that he was involved with Peters bringing in an outside IT expert to observe an upgrade of the Dominion voting machine software, since prosecutors alleged that a leak of computer bios passwords took place after IT expert Conan Hayes allegedly used Wood’s key card to enter the area where the upgrade was performed.

Read the full story

First Two Prosecution Witnesses in Trial of Former Colorado Elections Clerk Referred Disparagingly to Conservative News Site

Rachel Alexander

The trial against former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters over her efforts combating election fraud began this past week where two witnesses for the prosecution testified all day made disparaging remarks about The Gateway Pundit, a conservative news site.

The prosecution’s first witness, James Cannon, who identified himself as the chief investigator for the Mesa County District Attorney, said The Pundit was “a conspiracy site.” The prosecution’s second witness, Jesse Romero, who described himself as the voting systems manager for the Colorado Secretary of State’s (COSOS) Elections Division, said the news site posted an article with a “bombastic title.”

Read the full story

JD Vance Calls Kamala Harris a ‘Phony’ at Packed Rally in Glendale

Rachel Alexander
JD Vance in Glendale, Arizona

Two weeks after being selected by Donald Trump as his vice presidential running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) held a rally attended by thousands in Glendale. Thousands more were turned away from entering the auditorium at Arizona Christian University after waiting hours in line. Kari Lake spoke to wild cheering and standing ovations, and other speakers included Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert,) Senator Janae Shamp (R-Surprise), Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13), and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. 

Vance began his speech, “Just over a month ago, President Trump wiped the floor with Joe Biden on the debate stage. A massive drop of the President’s mental incapacity and he saved America four more years ago.” 

Read the full story

First Ballot Tallies in Arizona’s GOP Primary Election, Which Skew Moderate, Show Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh in the Lead

Rachel Alexander
Kari Lake

The results of Arizona’s 2024 Republican primary election began trickling in at 8 p.m. election night, with Kari Lake well in the lead for U.S. Senate against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, and Abe Hamadeh easily leading in the race for Congress in CD8. Out of about 309,000 ballots, Lake received 53.3 percent and Lamb 40.6 percent. Hamadeh garnered 29.7 percent, with the next closest candidate, Blake Masters, at 23 percent. 

The first round of results favored more moderate candidates in the Republican primary, since county recorders’ offices count early ballots first. The grassroots conservative base votes heavily on Election Day due to concerns about election fraud. 

Read the full story

Lawsuit Filed Against ‘Arrogant’ ‘Make Elections (Un)Fair Act’ That ‘Radically Alters Arizona’s Constitutional Structure’

Rachel Alexander
People Voting

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) filed a lawsuit against the Make Elections Fair Act (MEFA) on Friday. The complaint alleged that the initiative violates the Arizona Constitution by illegally combining multiple constitutional amendments in one ballot initiative. It said the “Make Elections (Unfair) Act” will “radically alter Arizona’s constitutional structure in multiple ways.”

“In their rush to undermine the will of Arizona voters for future elections, the special interests that drafted this measure ignored our laws and our Constitution,” said Scot Mussi, president of AFEC in a statement. “This egregious disregard for law and order exudes arrogance from these parties and should disqualify their measure from the November ballot.”

Read the full story

Former Pro-Life Champion Legislator Nancy Barto Reveals Details of Arizona’s Radical 9-Month Abortion Proposition on the Ballot

Rachel Alexander
Nancy Barto

Former Arizona legislator Nancy Barto, who was defeated for reelection in 2022 due to progressives targeting her over championing pro-life legislation, spoke to a church in Casa Grande Thursday evening about Proposition 139. Barto told the group of 158 at Cowboy Church of Pinal County about the negative ramifications of Prop. 139, the Right to Abortion Initiative, which is almost certain to be on the ballot this fall. 

The proposition legalizes abortion up to nine months, including partial-birth abortions, removes requirements that doctors be involved, eliminates parental consent, and removes penalties for those who assist with obtaining abortions. Arizona’s current abortion law prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.

Read the full story

Progressive Group May Be Illegally Releasing the Results of How Many Republicans v. Democrats Have Already Early Voted in Arizona

Rachel Alexander

A progressive organization called Uplift Campaigns is posting daily updated information on how many Republicans versus Democrats have turned in early ballots all around Arizona. However, A.R.S. 16-551(C) makes it a felony to release any results from early voting before Election Day.

That statute provides in part, “Partial or complete tallies of the early election board shall not be released or divulged before all precincts have reported or one hour after the closing of the polls on election day, whichever occurs first. Any person who unlawfully releases information regarding vote tallies or who possesses a tally sheet or summary without authorization from the recorder or officer in charge of elections is guilty of a class 6 felony.”

Read the full story

America First Legal Files Amicus Curiae Brief Opposing Recommendation to Discipline Jeffrey Clark Based on New SCOTUS Immunity Ruling

Rachel Alexander

America First Legal (AFL) filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark this month, objecting to a recommendation from the three-person panel of the D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility to discipline him over his concerns about illegalities in the 2020 election. The brief points to the Supreme Court’s new ruling in Trump v. United States, which held that presidents have broad immunity for their official acts. The D.C. Bar filed charges against Clark for drafting a letter that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options in dealing with the irregularities.

Authored by Gene Hamilton, AFL’s executive director and chief counsel, the brief summarized, “This proceeding should be discontinued because of its threat to our constitutional system’s separation of powers. … This proceeding appears to target Mr. Clark inappropriately for his political beliefs, partisan affiliation, and connection to former President Donald Trump. Such abuse of Bar oversight chills zealous advocacy in politically sensitive matters and should never be permitted.” 

Read the full story

Trial of Former Colorado County Clerk Tina Peters for Exposing Election Discrepancies with Voting Machines Starts Next Week

Rachel Alexander
Tina Peters

The trial against a former Colorado elections clerk over her efforts combating election fraud is set to begin on Monday.

Tina Peters, who served as Mesa County Clerk and Recorder from January 2019 to January 2023, is being prosecuted by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office on seven charges, including felonies, related to alleged election tampering, official misconduct, and attempting to influence public servants in 2021. She is accused of allowing an unauthorized third party to make copies of voting machine hard drives, which led to “confidential digital images” of Dominion Voting Systems property and passwords to be “published on the internet,” prosecutors asserted.

Read the full story

‘Democratic Superlawyer’ Marc Elias Files Complaint Against Kari Lake’s Attorney, Discusses Targeting Conservative Election Attorneys

Rachel Alexander
Marc Elias

Marc Elias, the controversial election fraud denying progressive election attorney who intervenes in election lawsuits and files bar complaints against conservative election attorneys, filed complaints with attorney regulation in Maryland and Washington D.C. earlier this month against Kari Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen. Elias, who has been nicknamed a “Democratic superlawyer,” also released a video discussing successes in targeting conservative election attorneys.

Elias’s Democracy Docket stated in a press release on July 12 that Olsen “spread election lies while representing Election Deniers, including Kari Lake, in frivolous election lawsuits.” Gillian Feiner, Senior Counsel at the States United Democracy Center, said in the press release, “Kurt Olsen has abused his law license to spread lies about our elections in the courtroom time and time again, and his pattern of unethical conduct shows he’s not going to stop.”

Read the full story

Report Finds Numerous Laws Violated in Pima County’s 2020 and 2022 Elections: ‘Malfeasance, incompetence, and Possible Criminal Activity’

Rachel Alexander

A new report investigating Pima County’s 2020 and 2022 elections found multiple ways the Tucson-based county is likely violating the law, allowing opportunities for election tampering. The illegalities were described as “malfeasance, incompetence and possible criminal activity.”

The report came out about the same time as another report which found that over 18,000 ballots lacked chain of custody records in the county’s 2022 election. Coincidentally in the same election cycle, Katie Hobbs edged out Kari Lake for the Governor’s office by just 17,117 votes.

Read the full story

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Allows Arizona’s New Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote in State and Local Elections to Remain in Place

Rachel Alexander
early voting

A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel of three justices issued an order on Thursday allowing part of Arizona’s new law that requires proof of citizenship in order to vote in state and local elections to remain in effect during appeals litigation. However, the panel upheld the trial court’s decision blocking some of the law. Consequently, those who request an application to vote only in federal elections will not be required to show proof of citizenship. This could have a substantial effect on the presidential race and highly contentious races like Kari Lake’s U.S. Senate race.

State Senate President Warren Petersen and the Senate Republicans, who were intervenors in the case, issued a statement on X. “This is a victory for election integrity in Arizona,” Petersen said. “Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in our elections. It sounds like common sense, but the radical left elected officials in our state continue to reject this notion, disrespecting the voices of our lawful Arizona voters. We are grateful the court is upholding this provision in our law, and it’s time for Congress to take action to ensure only lawful U.S. citizens are voting in federal races.” 

Read the full story

Kari Lake Appeals to Arizona Supreme Court over Denial of Her Lawsuit That Provided New Evidence from Tabulator Log Files

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake filed an opening brief with the Arizona Supreme Court last week, appealing the Arizona Court of Appeals’ denial of her second election lawsuit, a Rule 60(b) challenge containing new evidence. A significant part of it emphasized that over 275,000 signatures were not verified on early ballot envelope affidavits. Rule 60(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure allows a court to “relieve a party or its legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding” based on certain factors, such as new evidence or wrongdoing.

Lake’s opening brief, drafted by attorneys Jennifer Wright and Tim LaSota, emphasized “new information showing that, contrary to Maricopa’s claims of an ‘Election Day hiccup,’ nearly two-thirds of Maricopa’s 446 vote center tabulators failed on a massive scale — averaging over 7,000 ballot rejections every thirty minutes shortly after polls opened to polls closing.”

Read the full story

Pima County Election Records Show Chain-of-Custody Problems for over 18,000 Absentee Ballots in 2022 Election: Study

Rachel Alexander

A new report obtained by The Arizona Sun Times found that more than 18,000 absentee ballots counted in the 2022 election in Pima County alone had severely lacking or no chain-of-custody paperwork, meaning there is an inadequate record of the whereabouts or origins of the Tucson-area ballots.

Coincidentally in the same election cycle, Katie Hobbs edged out Kari Lake for the Governor’s office by just 17,117 votes.

Read the full story

Military Pharmacies Tell Arizona Active Duty Soldiers, Veterans, and Their Families There Is No Money for Prescriptions

Rachel Alexander

Active duty soldiers, veterans, and their families in southern Arizona are being told by pharmacies located on federal military bases that their prescriptions cannot be renewed due to lack of funding. The Raymond W. Bliss Army Health Center pharmacy located at Ft. Huachuca, known as an installation pharmacy, is currently undergoing one of these shortages, telling customers there will be no funds available until July 17. The pharmacy is directing customers to commercial pharmacies where they must pay out of pocket for their medications.

Army veteran Jack Dona, who is part of CONELRAD, a think tank looking into election fraud, told The Arizona Sun Times he discovered the problem when attempting to refill prescriptions over a week ago there. He was forced to refill them out of pocket at a nearby Walgreens instead. 

Read the full story

New York Judges Disbar Rudy Giuliani for ‘False Statements’ About Election Fraud, But Don’t Consider the Evidence

Rachel Alexander

A panel of five New York appeals court judges this week unanimously disbarred former President Donald Trump’s former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, over statements he made about election illegalities in the 2020 presidential election.

The opinion from the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department relied on ethics rules used to target conservative attorneys: “engag[ing] in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,” “engag[ing] in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice,” and “engag[ing] in any other conduct that adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer.”

Read the full story

Arizona State Rep. David Cook Challenges State Sen. Wendy Rogers amid Controversial Election Integrity Stance

Rachel Alexander
David Cook and Wendy Rogers

State Representative David Cook (R-Globe), an election fraud denier who regularly receives very low ratings from right-leaning organizations, is running for the Arizona Senate against election integrity champion State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff). Rogers, who raised over $3 million in recent years, the most of any legislative candidate in state history, mainly due to that issue and tireless campaigning, is widely expected to defeat Cook in the LD 7 primary.

After the 2022 election, Cook denied that there was cheating. He posted on X, “I realize today my party has been taken over by people that like to yell and scream and blame everyone but themselves for a loss.”

Read the full story

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects Kari Lake’s and Mark Finchem’s Appeal Alleging Arizona Officials Lied to the Court, No Sanctions Granted

Rachel Alexander
Kari Lake and Mark Finchem

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from Kari Lake and Mark Finchem alleging that Arizona officials made false statements to the courts regarding their lawsuit to stop the use of electronic voting machine tabulators. The panel of three justices, two who were appointed to the bench by Democratic presidents, gave no reason for their dismissal on June 20, and also denied a motion for sanctions by defendant Maricopa County, which was filed three days prior. 

Lake’s and Finchem’s Motion to Recall Mandate, drafted by attorney Kurt Olsen, stated, “Maricopa’s violations of Arizona law mean its elections have not been shown to be any more reliable than a Ouija board.” The motion said the officials’ alleged lies and perjury, which involved lying about committing misdemeanors, were discovered after obtaining Maricopa County’s tabulator system log (SLOG) files, which the pair maintained contradicted the statements of officials. 

Read the full story

Maricopa County Employee Who Allegedly Stole Tabulator Programming FOB/Key Has Ties to Soros Deleted, Had Vowed to Stop Election Day Attorneys

Rachel Alexander
Walter Ringfield

A LinkedIn account belonging to Maricopa County Elections temporary employee Walter Ringfield, Jr., who was arrested last Friday for allegedly stealing a digital magnetic key used to program Election Day voting machine tabulators, was deleted sometime after his arrest. This erased his connection to a radical group with ties to progressive billionaire George Soros, One Voice, One Vote.

When investigators looked through Ringfield’s social media that wasn’t deleted, they discovered a post he’d made vowing to thwart Republican lawyers combating wrongdoing on Election Day.

Read the full story

Maricopa County Elections Worker Arrested for Stealing Tabulator Programming FOB/Key Also Allegedly Broke into AZ Senate

Rachel Alexander
Walter Ringfield

An Arizona State Capitol insider with knowledge of recent incidents there told The Arizona Sun Times that progressive activist Walter Ringfield, Jr. – the same man who was arrested for allegedly stealing an election machine tabulator key fob – was caught breaking and entering into the Arizona Senate recently. Video surveillance footage allegedly caught him stealing collectible coins from the security area and walking around on the third floor unauthorized. When apprehended by security, he was asked to leave. The insiders said that Ringfield told security he was there to deliver some documents to State Senator Juan Mendez (D-Tempe).

News reports about the election key fob theft broke a Monday. According to a police report obtained by The Sun Times, surveillance video shows Ringfield putting the set into his pocket.

Read the full story

Biden DOJ Report Alleges Phoenix Police Violate Rights Based on Race; Insiders Warn Consent Decree Could Be Imminent

Rachel Alexander
Phoenix Police Department

The Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a 126-page report on Thursday claiming that it found probable cause after a three year investigation that the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) violated the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments when dealing with the public. The investigation began in August 2021, alleging five problem areas. The DOJ accused PPD of using excessive force, discriminating against nonwhites, treating homeless people unlawfully, violating the First Amendment, and discriminating against the mentally ill.

A PPD officer who preferred to remain anonymous told The Arizona Sun Times that there were all kinds of problems with the report. He said the consultants hired by the DOJ to visit PPD were fresh out of law school and knew nothing about law enforcement. He said they pulled a few files and didn’t interview relevant people. There was a lot they didn’t do, he said. Additionally, the cases cited in the report are old, and key details were omitted from the report, including that those cases were resolved.

Read the full story

Trump’s Former DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Files Post-Hearing Brief Poking Holes in the D.C. Bar’s Disciplinary Panel Findings

Rachel Alexander
Jeffrey Clark

Donald Trump’s former DOJ official, Jeffrey Clark, is fighting a recommendation from the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary panel to discipline him over his concerns about illegalities in the 2020 election. Last month, he filed a Post-Hearing Brief challenging a nonbinding preliminary finding of culpability for drafting a letter that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options in dealing with the irregularities.

The hearing panel found that Clark engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation and conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice, Rules 8.4(c) and (d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Those ethics rules have been accused of being broad, vague, and unconstitutional. State bars frequently use them to target conservative attorneys.

Read the full story

Arizona Appeals Court Ignores Evidence to Throw Out Kari Lake’s Second Election Appeal

Rachel Alexander
Kari Lake Speaking

An Arizona Court of Appeals panel of three judges issued a 23-page unpublished decision last week, affirming a trial court’s dismissal of Kari Lake’s Rule 60(b) second election lawsuit. The court claimed that Lake’s Rule 60(b)(3) motion, which means requesting a second trial based on newly found evidence, constituted merely relitigating her first election lawsuit.

The court said that instead, “The focus must rather be on the fraud or misconduct that prevents a litigant from trying otherwise meritorious claims.” However, the court ignored Lake’s evidence of misconduct and affirmed the high standard the trial court judge set for election contests, which is not found in Arizona case law.

Read the full story

Judge Hears Arguments in Trial over Election Illegalities, Malconduct Alleged by Candidate in Shasta County Supervisor Race

Rachel Alexander
Laura Hobbs

Shasta County Superior Court Judge Stephen H. Baker heard arguments on Tuesday in an election contest brought by Laura Hobbs, who ran for Shasta County Supervisor earlier this year. Hobbs lost the District 2 race to Allen Long by 14 votes. Hobbs alleged numerous election irregularities, including malconduct by election officials. Baker is expected to conclude the trial on Wednesday.

Hobbs’ attorney Alex Haberbush, who is also an attorney for Donald Trump’s former attorney John Eastman, told The Arizona Sun Times after the first day of trial concluded, “Walking into today’s hearing, we were facing at least half a dozen arguments from our opponents as to why our case should be dismissed, and today we left with only one, whether malconduct by election workers must be intentional.” He said, “Intentionality is not the standard, and the misconduct by Deputy Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut easily surpassed the actual standard.”

Read the full story

State Bar of Arizona’s Disciplinary Panel Suspends Law License of Kari Lake’s Attorney Bryan Blehm for Challenging Election Illegalities

Rachel Alexander
Bryan Blehm

The State Bar of Arizona’s (SBA) disciplinary panel, led by Democratic Judge Margaret Downie, suspended the law license of Kari Lake’s attorney Bryan Blehm for 60 days over his efforts to combat election corruption. The order was issued last Friday and the suspension goes into effect on July 7. 

“What they’re going to do is they’re going to sanction the f*** out of me with costs and fees to try to prevent me from practicing law again.” Blehm said in a video posted on X. “That’s what the end result is going to be.” Blehm was disciplined for stating in a pleading that 35,563 ballots were inserted into the 2022 election. The Arizona Supreme Court sanctioned him $2,000 for the statement.

Read the full story

Second Texas Court Rules That Texas Bar Has No Evidence Sidney Powell Violated Ethics Rules with 2020 Election Lawsuits

Rachel Alexander

Former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, who brought four lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 election, was cleared of charges from the State Bar of Texas by the Texas Court of Appeals this month. The court ruled in a 24-page opinion upholding the trial court that the Texas Bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline failed to show how she engaged in “dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation” in lawsuits she filed challenging Donald Trump’s presidential loss.

The lower trial court found that the evidence against Powell was so lacking that it granted no-evidence summary judgment for her against the Texas bar, which the Texas bar appealed. The higher court criticized the Texas bar, “The Bar employed a ‘scattershot’ approach to the case, which left this court and the trial court ‘with the task of sorting through the argument to determine what issue ha[d] actually been raised.’”

Read the full story

Thousands Attend Town Hall in Phoenix to Hear Discuss Chasing the Vote, Rigged Elections, and Illegal Immigration

Rachel Alexander

Thousands of people turned out for a town hall put on by Turning Point USA with former President Donald Trump Thursday afternoon at Dream City Church in north Phoenix. Trump and Turning Point CEO Charlie Kirk were the sole speakers at the “Chase the Vote” event, urging patriots to make the 2024 election “too big to rig.” The rest of the event focused heavily on illegal immigration, highly critical of the Biden administration’s record. 

Trump’s last visit to the state was 18 months ago. According to one attendee who arrived at 8 a.m., there were over 4,000 people in line at that time. The temperature got up to 108 degrees, and there were vendors with water and drinks sprinkled throughout the church property. The event officially began at 2 p.m., but Kirk came out a little after noon and spoke in advance of Trump’s 2 p.m. speech. The crowd held up signs with Trump’s mugshot on them. 

Read the full story

Second Ethics Complaint Filed Against NY Judge Merchan as Concerns Increase over His Handling of Trump ‘Hush Money’ Case

Rachel Alexander
Donald Trump

The unanimous jury verdict last week against former President Donald Trump in the “hush money” case involving porn star Stormy Daniels is prompting concerns about unethical behavior by New York Judge Juan Merchan. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY-24) filed a misconduct complaint against Merchan last week, alleging that he violated ethics rules by presiding over the case since his progressive activist daughter made money from the case.

The complaint Stefanik filed with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct (NYSCJC) stated that under Section 100.3(E)(1)(d)(iii) of the Rules of Judicial Conduct for the New York State Unified Court System, “a judge is disqualified from a case when the judge knows that a person known by the judge to be within the sixth degree of relationship to him ‘has an interest that could be substantially affected by the proceeding.’”

Read the full story

Rule of Lawfare: Jury Instructions from NY Judge to Manhattan Jurors in Trump ‘Hush Money’ Case Contained Made-up and Selectively Chosen Language

Rachel Alexander
NY Judge Juan Merchan

A New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on all 34 criminal counts related to falsifying business records last week, prompting outcry that New York Judge Juan Merchan, who was handpicked to handle the case and who donated to Joe Biden, committed misconduct during the trial, including how he handled the jury instructions. A CNN senior legal analyst reported that the case was full of so many legal stretches that employees of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office referred to it as the “zombie case.”

Daniel Street, an attorney in Louisiana who writes about lawfare, told The Tennessee Star the jury instructions were “terrible.”

Read the full story

Conviction of Trump in ‘Hush Money’ Case by New York Jury Marks Ominous Turning Point for the Rule of Law in America

Rachel Alexander
Donald Trump

A New York jury unanimously convicted Donald Trump on all 34 counts in the criminal case against him on Thursday for falsifying business records to disguise a $130,000 hush money payment from Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels.

New York Judge Juan Merchan set a sentencing date for July 11.

Read the full story

Election Integrity Experts Talks About 2020 Election Irregularities at Virtual ‘Get Trump’ Lawfare Conference

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona civic organization Davos in the Desert hosted a “Get Trump” virtual conference on lawfare Tuesday featuring various experts. Some speakers, such as Arizona attorney Mark Sonnenklar and Louisiana attorney Daniel R. Street, focused heavily on election fraud and other illegalities in the 2020 election.

Sonnenklar, who worked as a roving attorney during the 2022 election, began his presentation by going over a precinct analysis from Army intelligence veteran and analytics guru Seth Keshel. Keshel contrasted the numbers of votes for the Republican versus Democratic candidates for president in numerous small precincts from the 2012, 2016 and 2020 elections. Each of the precincts he examined showed similar differences in numbers between the Republican and Democrat candidates in 2012 and 2016.

Read the full story

‘Get Trump’ Virtual Conference on Lawfare Speakers Poke Holes in January 6 and Trump Legal Cases

Rachel Alexander
January Six

The Arizona civic organization Davos in the Desert hosted a “Get Trump” virtual conference on lawfare Tuesday, featuring some of the country’s top lawfare experts.

Linda Denno, an associate dean and associate professor at the University of Arizona who hosts a podcast with Berkeley constitutional law professor John Yoo, spoke about Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump for taking home documents from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence. Brian Lupo, an investigative journalist who runs a podcast focusing on election corruption and lawfare, spoke about the unfair prosecutions of the January 6 protesters.

Read the full story

John Eastman and Other Top Attorneys Speak at ‘Get Trump’ Virtual Conference on Lawfare

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona civic organization Davos in the Desert hosted a virtual “Get Trump” lawfare conference all day Tuesday. The conference featured numerous top legal experts, including Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman. It covered the criminal prosecutions, the high-profile civil lawsuits, the two impeachment trials, and lawfare against conservative attorneys.

Eastman, who is being prosecuted in Georgia and Arizona for his work advising and representing Trump on the 2020 election corruption and fighting disbarment in California, discussed the evidence he saw that convinced him there was wrongdoing in the election.

Read the full story

GOP State Senator May Be Holding Up Arizona Legislature from Sending Election Integrity Measure to Ballot

Rachel Alexander
Ken Bennett

The Arizona Legislature is considering sending an election integrity measure to the ballot this fall.

HCR 2056 was debated in the Senate Elections Committee last week. The bill would require voters to show photo ID when dropping ballots off. All early ballots dropped off will be tabulated at the voting location where they were submitted. Seven counties already do that. The bill also prohibits election officials from accepting funds from foreign entities to help administer an election.

Read the full story