Former Arizona governor criticizes Trump indictments, 'weaponization' of Department of Justice

Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican who became a target of former President Donald Trump's pressure campaign to overturn the 2020 election result, said indictments of the former president were a concerning "weaponization of the Department of Justice."

Ducey also said it should be left up to voters to judge Trump's conduct.

“We’re in the middle of an election cycle," the former governor said when asked to comment on an indictment against Trump and 18 others that was handed up by a Georgia grand jury Monday. "I prefer this would all be decided by the people. I’m concerned about the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and now we’ll see the process play out.”

The former governor, who left office in January, spoke to reporters about the high-profile indictments of the former president for the first time Tuesday after a ribbon-cutting at a Department of Child Safety facility in Phoenix.

The facility temporarily houses children and young adults coming into the state custody system, expanding the capacity of a previous facility that served the same purpose. Ducey's administration supported the expansion and he and his wife, Angela, championed child welfare issues throughout the governor's eight years at the helm of the state. The event brought together Arizona's three most recent governors: Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, Ducey and former Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.

As has been the case since the 2020 election, Ducey was careful not to pick a fight with Trump, although Trump often has criticized Ducey for not acting on what Trump falsely claims was election fraud.

"I am concerned about continuing indictments," Ducey said. "I’m concerned about how this is going to affect the electorate, the rule of law, and equal justice.”

Ducey made a distinction between charges and investigations against the former president and other political targets, including Democratic President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, who is being prosecuted for tax evasion and gun possession and is a favorite target of conservative politicians.

“We’ve never seen this with a former president of the United States," Ducey said. "And the question I would have — is this good for our country, or is this tearing our country apart? I believe we’re divided enough, we’re in the middle of an election cycle, and I'd like to see this play out and it be left to the people.”

Ducey wouldn't pass judgment on Trump's actions in seeking to stay in power, saying Trump and his aides' conduct would "be left up to the juries."

Trump, the expected Republican frontrunner in the 2024 race for the White House, is facing four indictments by federal and state prosecutors. The cases include a range of allegations that Trump falsified business records and concealed official documents and charge Trump with conspiracy and "criminal enterprise" to stay in power.

Ducey said he planned to attend the first GOP presidential debate next week and was "undecided at this time" which candidate would get his vote in the primary.

Arizona's former governor was one of Trump's targets in a sweeping pressure campaign to reverse Trump's 2020 loss. Trump urged Ducey to change the election result and attempted to enlist then-Vice President Mike Pence, whom Ducey considers a friend, in his effort, according to recent reporting by The Washington Post.

Ducey on Tuesday declined to comment on his interaction with the special counsel on the federal level investigating Trump and said he had not been contacted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' office.

A Ducey representative said in July that Ducey had been contacted by special counsel Jack Smith, who about two weeks later announced a federal grand jury indictment alleging Trump conspired to overturn the election result with the help of half a dozen co-conspirators.

Mayes, a Democrat, has confirmed she is looking into Arizona Republicans' scheme to send fake electors to Congress for certification.

A similar slate of fake electors was charged in the indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, late Monday, where prosecutors allege the electors were part of a Trump-led "criminal enterprise" seeking to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. Last month, the attorney general in Michigan filed charges against 16 residents there who falsely claimed they were the legitimate electors chosen by voters in November 2020.

Asked about the slates of fake electors in Arizona and other states, and whether they could be held responsible for Trump's plan, Ducey said, "Obviously that’s up to the prosecutors and they have discretion. ... Everyone has the presumption of innocence until they’re proven guilty. So now that burden is on the state.”

Since leaving office, Ducey has taken the helm of a political group called Citizens for Free Enterprise. He hopes to expand the Arizona-based group to all 50 states.

A more traditional Republican who spent eight years in office promoting business growth and small government, Ducey has stayed out of the limelight even as some leading traditional Republican officials have taken to criticizing Trump, albeit cautiously given Trump's enduring hold on the GOP base.

Pence, who like Trump is running for the presidency in next year's election, has said that "no one who ever puts himself over the Constitution should ever be president of the United States," referring to Trump.

Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Mesa Republican, is named in two of the indictments against Trump and has testified to Congress about Trump's pressure campaign.

Bowers was asked by the former president or his intermediaries to appoint electors other than those chosen by Arizona voters, part of plot that federal prosecutors and those in Georgia now say was a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona ex-Gov. Ducey voices concern on Trump indictments, DOJ actions