In a September 10 phone call, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, along with Governor Katie Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, admitted that the 18 individuals they are currently prosecuting for questioning the 2020 election results did nothing wrong.

These admissions came after revelations about long-standing voter registration issues in the state, casting doubt on the legitimacy of both recent elections and the ongoing legal actions.

Back in April, 18 defendants, including notable figures such as Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and attorney John Eastman, were indicted by Mayes’ grand jury.

The charges against them included conspiracy and forgery, alleging they attempted to disrupt the transfer of power to Joe Biden by submitting an alternative slate of electors for Donald Trump. Among the indicted individuals were attorneys and advisors connected to Trump’s 2020 election campaign.

The indictment claimed that these individuals misled Arizona voters and sought to influence then-Vice President Mike Pence’s actions during the certification process on January 6, 2021.

However, new developments have emerged, raising serious questions about the basis for these charges. In the phone call, Mayes admitted that election results from the last two elections were “challengeable,” due to Arizona’s failure to properly verify voter citizenship for the past 20 years.

Governor Hobbs further acknowledged that missing citizenship verification could validate theories about illegal voting in Arizona’s elections. This admission has effectively weakened the state’s legal argument in the case against the 18 defendants.

The underlying issue traces back to a problem in Arizona’s Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) system, which has allowed nearly 100,000 voter registrations to be approved without verifying the registrants’ citizenship.

This error has been ongoing for two decades, permitting non-citizens who obtained driver’s licenses before 1996 to register to vote without proof of citizenship.

The discovery of this issue prompted state officials to hold a private phone meeting to devise a strategy for managing the fallout.

Their solution? A so-called “friendly lawsuit” filed by Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder, who is a Republican but viewed by some as aligned with establishment interests. The lawsuit seeks to designate these 100,000 potentially ineligible voters as “federal only” voters, meaning they would be allowed to vote only in federal elections, as required by federal law.

Arizona law requires voters to provide proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections. By restricting these individuals to federal-only ballots, state officials hope to manage the problem without provoking a political firestorm.

These revelations are especially significant given the charges against the 18 defendants, who are accused of undermining the 2020 election by challenging the results.

The case had already hit a stumbling block last month when a judge allowed the defense to argue that the charges were politically motivated. Now, with the state’s own officials admitting to systemic voter registration failures, the defense has even more ammunition to challenge the legitimacy of the indictment.

Prominent Arizona figures have responded sharply to these developments. Abe Hamadeh, the Republican candidate for the 8th Congressional District and former Attorney General nominee, condemned Mayes’ handling of the election and the subsequent prosecutions.

He accused Mayes of pursuing “baseless and politically motivated” cases and called for her to drop the charges against the 18 defendants. Hamadeh narrowly lost his bid for Attorney General in 2022 by just 280 votes, a race marred by the same voter verification issues.

Brad Miller, attorney for former Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward—two of the defendants—also spoke out against the case.

Miller criticized Mayes for pursuing legal action against individuals who were exercising their right to challenge a contested election. He emphasized that the prosecution is built on a flawed premise, stating, “The whole thing is appalling because Kris Mayes is attempting to prosecute people for something that she knows was a legitimate election challenge.”

Miller, now the Republican nominee for Pinal County Attorney, highlighted that the state’s failure to verify voter citizenship has not only compromised the integrity of recent elections but also undercuts the legitimacy of Mayes’ legal actions. He argued that Mayes is using her position to obscure her own potential illegitimacy as Attorney General, given the razor-thin margin in her 2022 election victory.

As the legal case against the 18 defendants continues, these new admissions from Mayes, Hobbs, and Fontes have only added to the growing controversy surrounding Arizona’s election integrity and its officials’ attempts to address long-standing systemic problems.

With high-profile figures on both sides weighing in, the outcome of this case could have significant implications for the state’s future elections and its legal processes.

Source