Assistant attorney general who launched dubious Arizona election probe ousted

Corrections & Clarifications: Attorney General Kris Mayes’ staff told former Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s staff that Jennifer Wright’s services would not be needed in the new administration. Wright’s resignation was received Dec. 31. Based on statements from an attorney general spokesperson, a previous version of the article mischaracterized her exit from the office. Wright’s tweet about what she might do in the new year was posted Jan. 1. A previous version of the article had an incorrect date. The story has been updated.

The controversial head of the Election Integrity Unit is out of a job with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Jennifer Wright, who publicly supported right-wing candidates and then used her office to investigate their election losses, was removed from her position, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said on Jan. 4.

The spokesperson for newly elected Attorney General Kris Mayes said one of the administration’s first official acts was to tell Wright to resign or be fired, her office confirmed a day later. Pressed on the matter, the Mayes administration said it didn’t know if she ever received the information directly.

Mayes has pledged to shift the unit's primary mission from investigating allegations of voter fraud to combating acts of voter intimidation and threats to elections officials. She said the office should be ensuring the rights of voters are upheld and that there is "no voter suppression in the state of Arizona."

Wright, in a social media post on Jan. 5, denied she was fired. She said she resigned before Mayes took office. Her LinkedIn page says she stopped working at the Attorney General's Office in December 2022.

A Jan. 9 statement from Mayes’ office said it informed then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s administration “several times” in late November and December that Wright would not be retained.

“Because Attorney General Mayes did not have access to the office until January 2^nd, it was relayed to the administration of then-Attorney General Brnovich that Jennifer Wright’s services would no longer be needed,” the statement said.

"Ms. Wright resigned on December 31^st and her office was empty when the Mayes Administration arrived. The Mayes Administration does not know what message, if any, was directly conveyed to Ms. Wright by the Brnovich Administration.”

Wright, appointed by Brnovich to spearhead the newly created unit in 2019, initially could not be reached for comment, though she has remained active on social media.

Update:Former Arizona assistant attorney general pushes back on claims she was forced out

Wright issued a legal ultimatum to Maricopa County election officials a week after the Nov. 8 general election, claiming they potentially violated laws after equipment problems prevented machines from reading ballots in about 30% of polling stations.

But an investigation by The Arizona Republic in November found Wright was criticizing county officials and raising dubious claims about procedures 10 days before she sent her demand.

Wright, in a series of Twitter posts that began on Election Day, suggested county officials were incompetent and claimed they weren't counting votes fast enough. She also posted support for far-right Republican candidates and issues weeks before the election.

"Incompetence on top of incompetence," Wright wrote in back-to-back tweets on Nov. 9. "In all my years of election work, it has never taken this long for Maricopa to report Election Day Results. Never. Ever. Ever."

Legal and government ethicists said Wright's posts posed a potential conflict of interest and that she should recuse herself or be removed from overseeing any investigation that could benefit candidates she supported.

Those included Kari Lake for governor and Abe Hamadeh for attorney general, both of whom were endorsed by former President Donald Trump and built their campaigns on unfounded claims of voter fraud. Both candidates have filed lawsuits contesting their losses and, despite losing those cases, continue to claim without evidence the county disenfranchised thousands of voters.

Former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said on Jan. 5 it was clear Wright was using her position to play partisan politics. While she blasted Maricopa County officials for their Election Day foul-ups, she was silent on other election violations, Romley said.

"I found it troubling that she would demand so much from Maricopa County about their problems, but she did not so much as write a letter to Cochise County officials over what were clear violations of law," he said.

Romley and former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard urged prosecutors to consider criminal charges against Cochise County supervisors who refused to certify the county's election until a judge ordered them to do so on Dec. 1.

Romley said it indicated Wright wasn't serious about pursuing election integrity cases unless they aligned with her political beliefs.

Pinal County election results:500-vote discrepancy was 'human error'

Brnovich, in his last weeks in office, made no public statements about Wright's job, her letter to the county supervisors or her social media activities.

Wright's Nov. 19 letter galvanized Republican hard-liners seeking to cast doubt on the reliability of the voting system and election results in Arizona's most populous county. It also boosted the profile of the Election Integrity Unit, which faced criticism from those same Republicans for not doing enough to unearth widespread fraud.

County officials rebutted Wright's arguments in a five-page letter a day before certifying election results. Tom Liddy, chief of the county attorney's civil services division, wrote that Wright misinterpreted state law and demanded information on procedures that aren't required under law and don't exist, such as a voter "check out" policy.

After The Republic's Nov. 25 story, Wright sought to clarify her Election Day post. She also restricted access to her Twitter feed.

Wright said "some people" didn't understand her tweet, which referred to the posting of results of in-person votes on Election Day.

"Historically at least some of those are released between 10-11 pm on election night," she wrote in the post. "I tweeted frustration after 1 a.m. when zero results had been posted."

Wright identifies her Twitter account as personal, but she used it to promote her former office and make statements on the importance of election integrity.

Her activism on social media has evolved from straight politicking to include culture war screeds. She frequently has lashed out on vaccines, COVID-19 and transgender issues. This week was no exception, with repeated posts and retweets about the dangers of vaccines.

Wright's legal career was built on voting reform efforts that critics say sought to limit access for voters. She has deep ties to groups accused of disenfranchising voters and spreading false election fraud claims. She once warned that unnamed forces were working to steal power from the people by manipulating votes.

Wright stepped onto the local political stage in 2011 with a failed bid for Phoenix mayor. She ran as a Tea Party Republican in a crowded field in which she branded herself as a "native Phoenician, economist, lawyer, and activist." She ran on a campaign of limiting government and supporting small business.

A review of Wright's Twitter account Thursday did not find any references to her ouster at the Attorney General's Office. However, she said in a Jan. 1 post that she was looking for direction in the new year.

"Patiently awaiting for God to reveal 'when people and their causes need (me) most' so that I can be there anxious to help," she wrote. "Here's to 2023 − may God make it the best yet."

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on Twitter @robertanglen.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona assistant AG who launched dubious election probe is ousted