PHOENIX — Democrats are calling for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate allegations State Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward and former President Donald Trump among others, tried to interfere with the vote count in the 2020 election in Maricopa County.
Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego is urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate.
On Thursday protestors demonstrated in front of the Attorney General’s office.
They criticized Brnovich’s record on voting rights and called on his office to investigate the allegations first made public in the Arizona Republic.
“Interfering with the votes is a potentially very serious crime. He’s got to find evidence. He just can’t base it on rumors that fly around,” said Rivko Knox a protestor who thinks the allegations need to be looked into.
Whether the Attorney General chooses to open an investigation or ask a County Attorney to do so remains to be seen.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs sent a letter to the Attorney General asking him to look into the matter or designate the case to a county prosecutor.
“We’re not saying there’s a violation. We’re saying there is enough evidence to investigate further to determine if there was or was not a violation. I don’t think that’s political at all. If his agenda is to uphold the integrity of the election he needs to take this seriously,” Hobbs said.
In an email, Katie Conner, the spokeswoman for the Attorney General wrote, “We have received the Secretary of State’s letter and have no further comment at this time."
"Big news Kelli Ward tries to influence the election. Isn’t that against the law?” Taking to social media during their vacation, Ward and her husband downplayed any suggestion she attempted to interfere with Maricopa’s vote count. “I called Clint Hickman and said, 'hey the president would like to talk to you. So be ready he might be calling you,'” Ward said on her July 3 edition of The Ward Report.
Hickman was the chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors at the time of the election. The Republic reported he received two phone calls from the White House operator.
Hickman told the Republic the calls went to voice mail and he never called back.
If Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego has his way, Brnovich won’t be the one doing the investigation, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland will.
In a letter to Garland, Congressman Gallego wrote, “I urge your department to investigate any potential illegal activity on the part of these campaign and party officials…”
Editor's Note: In an earlier version of this story, two quotes were incorrectly placed together, giving the wrong impression from a spokesperson. The story has since been corrected and updated.
