AZ GOP election official trashes Maricopa County election audit: 'Stop indulging this'

On Erin Burnett OutFront Monday, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, spoke out against the election audit currently happening in Maricopa County, Arizona, despite the fact that two previous bipartisan audits already found no issues.

“They’re only doing two elections on a ballot that had over 60 elections, and how they chose those, I don’t know,” Richer said. “But if they wanted to choose the closest race that was on every single ballot in Maricopa county, they, ironically, should have started with mine, in which a Republican unseated a Democrat incumbent.”

Misinformation surrounding the audit is rampant, due in part to the official twitter account for the audit feeding conspiracies. The account recently posted a tweet claiming the county election database had been deleted, which was later echoed in a statement from former President Dondald Trump. This misinformation contributed to the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors denouncing the audit as a grift.

“Just stop indulging this. Stop giving space for lies. We found out about this latest accusation through the Arizona Senate’s audit’s Twitter account, which is anonymously run, just accusing me and my staff of unlawfully deleting evidence. That’s not appropriate,” Richer said, later adding, “That's why we did this. Because it was just exhausting to have to respond to every unfounded allegation and insinuation while we’re supposed to be doing the normal work of the county.”

Video Transcript

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STEPHEN RICHER: Just stop indulging this. Stop giving space for lies. We found out about this latest accusation through the Arizona Senate's audit Twitter account, which is anonymously run.

KYLIE MAR: Maricopa County Recorder, Steven Richer appeared on Erin Burnett's OutFront Monday, where he spoke about the election audit currently taking place in Maricopa County, Arizona, despite two previous audits finding no issues. Earlier Monday, the Republican-led County Board of Supervisors denounced the audit as a grift.

STEPHEN RICHER: They're only doing two elections on a ballot that had over 60 elections, and how they chose those I don't know, but if they wanted to choose the closest race that was on every single ballot in Maricopa County, they ironically should have started with mine.

KYLIE MAR: Richer said that misinformation about the audit, much of which comes from the official audit Twitter account, which recently tweeted falsely that the election database for the County had been deleted is the reason the board decided to act.

STEPHEN RICHER: That's why we did this. Because it was just exhausting to have to respond to every unfounded allegation and insinuation while we're supposed to be doing the normal work of the County. I have no idea how long this will go on for. It'll probably, possibly into 2022.

KYLIE MAR: Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump put out a statement echoing the lie about the County database. Richer responded with a tweet calling it unhinged and said, "This is as readily falsifiable as 2 + 2 = 5." And he spoke about first learning of the former president's statement.

STEPHEN RICHER: And I was just sitting there looking at our voter registration database and I have the elections database as well on my computer. Just what can we do here? I mean this is tantamount to saying that the pencil sitting on my desk in front of me doesn't exist.

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