Arizona steps up criminal probe of GOP in 2020 election: report

Arizona is ramping up a criminal probe into allegations of efforts to overturn the 2020 election by state Republicans, The Washington Post reported.

Citing two sources familiar with the probe, the Post reported Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) is stepping up her criminal probe into alleged attempts by Republicans to turn over the election results, in which they reportedly signed and transmitted paperwork falsely claiming former President Trump won the election in the state. The sources also said investigators were requesting information and records from local election officials, as well as evidence collected by the Justice Department and a prosecutor in Atlanta, who are looking into similar cases.

Mayes said in an interview with The Guardian in March that she planned to investigate the fake electors who signed the documents falsely claiming Trump was the winner.

“We are planning to reach out to federal officials on that matter. Beyond that, I’m not going to comment on it,” she said at the time.

She also launched an investigation to determine whether voter fraud occurred in the state during the 2020 election but ultimately found no evidence of widespread fraud.

“The results of this exhaustive and extensive investigation show what we have suspected for over two years — the 2020 election in Arizona was conducted fairly and accurately by elections officials,” she tweeted in February.

Mayes’s chief deputy, Dan Barr, told The Post that the investigation is still in its “fact-gathering” stage.

“This is something we’re not going to go into thinking, ‘Maybe we’ll get a conviction,’ or, ‘Maybe we have a pretty good chance,’” he said. “This has to be ironclad shut.”

Shortly after the 2020 election, fake electors organized to falsely declare Trump the winner in multiple key swing states that decided the election in favor of President Biden. Since then, multiple investigations have been launched in connection with these attempts, including by special counsel Jack Smith’s office and the Fulton County district attorney in Georgia.

Smith reportedly reached agreements with at least two fake GOP electors to provide them limited immunity in exchange for testifying before a grand jury, CNN reported in June.

When reached out to for comment, Mayes’ communications director Richie Taylor confirmed to The Hill that there is an “active investigation” into the matter.

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