PHOENIX — The most recent public records release from the Arizona State Senate includes an operating expenditures document for the months-long review of Maricopa’s 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 General Election.
The price tag was almost 9 million dollars.
The top 5 expenses listed were:
- $5,243,593 for Payroll and Labor Costs
- $1,182,971 for Depreciation Expenses
- $627,176 for Professional Services
- $543,871 for Travel Expenses
- $253,327 for Supplies
The report, compiled by a Florida-based CPA firm uses “Income Tax Bases” accounting and notes at the end of the report that the financial statement does not represent the income and expenses of Cyber Ninjas, the firm headed by audit leader Doug Logan.
No detail is provided on any of the spending categories except that $1.9 million was paid out to five separate subcontractors that worked under Cyber Ninjas. Equipment purchased for the audit fell under the “depreciation expenses category and the accountants state that IRS code allows for 100% depreciation.
The financial statement includes the previously reported amount of $5.7 million raised to support the audit, which shows that the state senate contributed only $50,000. More than half of the revenue comes from “The America Project,” a dark money organization headed by former Overstock CEO and big supporter of the election fraud conspiracy theory Patrick Byrne. The document shows that the audit operated at a more than $2 million loss.
The Arizona Senate disclosed the financial document as part of a lawsuit with American Oversight in which the courts have held that Cyber Ninjas must release internal records related to the audit.
