Mark Brnovich calls Kari Lake's election fraud claims 'horse----' but is he too late?

After nearly two years of election audits and investigations – of outright calls by Republicans for arrests and “perp walks” – Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Sunday took to “60 Minutes” to acknowledge that he’d found no evidence of a stolen election in 2020.

As for Kari Lake, Mark Finchem, Abe Hamadeh and the rest of the Trump-endorsed candidates whose entire campaigns are based upon a claim that widespread fraud robbed Donald Trump of a win in Arizona?

“Horse----. And that’s what it is,” Brnovich told 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley. “Most of it’s horse----. And I’ve been trying to scrape – scrape it off my shoes for the last year.”

Brnovich also called Lake’s election denial schtick a “giant grift”.

Cue CBS’ Scott Pelley: “A grift, a swindle, is what you’re saying?”

Brnovich: “Yes.”

Wow.

And … finally.

Brnovich was strong early on. Then he bent

Welcome back, Mr. Brnovich.

Now would you please release your long-awaited final report on your investigation into the 2020 election now, before it’s too late (if it already isn’t)? So that Arizona voters who haven’t yet voted can save us from the conspiracy kooks who are hoping to win next week’s election based upon a lie?

Early on, the two-term Republican attorney general stood tall, refusing to kowtow to Trump. Shortly after the 2020 election, he told Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto there was no grand conspiracy to defeat Donald Trump in Arizona. No steal. Not even a petty theft.

“It came down to: People split their ticket,” he told Cavuto. “People voted for Republicans down ballot, and they didn't vote for President Trump or Martha McSally. So, that’s the reality.”

Dangerous move: How the media made Kari Lake Trumpism's 'leading lady'

But Brnovich was also running for the Senate and he soon found himself in the unenviable position of having to try to appease Trump without trampling on his oath of office.

He recounted a phone call from Trump:

“He goes, all you gotta do is say the election’s fraudulent, and you will be a superstar,” Brnovich told Pelley. “You’ll be the most popular guy in America. And I told him, I said, Mr. President, I didn’t become attorney general to be a star. I brought my star with me. And I don’t need anybody, whether it’s a former president, or any other person validating what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.”

Didn't matter. Trump loyalists won, anyway

Rather than allowing that star of his to illuminate the way, Brnovich slinked out on a sketchy tightrope – releasing an interim report on the Cyber Ninjas audit that teased “serious vulnerabilities” in Arizona’s election system without actually acknowledging that he’d found no evidence of widespread fraud.

Unfortunately, for his Senate prospects, Trump wasn’t impressed. Venture capitalist Blake Masters, who had no problem howling that Trump was robbed without the benefit of actual evidence, got the golden endorsement and the subsequent GOP primary win.

As did Kari Lake for governor.

And Blake Masters for the Senate.

And Mark Finchem for secretary of state.

And Abe Hamadeh, the attorney general wannabe who is vowing “perp walks” for elections officials and to heck with things like evidence and ethical prosecutorial considerations and such.

Hamadeh, a 2016 law school graduate, might want to grab a clue from the attorney general he hopes to succeed. Brnovich on Sunday told Pelley the investigation is over.

“There was no one in this country that wanted to find evidence of fraud more than I did,” he said. “But I thought it was important to systematically go through and say ‘no’ this is the facts, this is the evidence, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but when you’re an actual prosecutor, when you’re the actual government, there’s a higher obligation you can’t afford to be sloppy.”

What if Brnovich had said this earlier?

Me? I wonder what might have happened had Brnovich come clean before the Aug. 2 primary and acknowledged that he’d found no evidence of widespread fraud in the year since Senate President Karen Fann asked him to investigate her Cyber Ninja auditors' findings.

Heck, I wonder what might have happened had it done it last week, when Jon Stewart asked him.

Instead, it was left until Sunday – 18 days after early voting began and nine days before the election – for Brnovich to take to national TV to announce that his investigators could find no evidence that the 2020 election stolen.

That the sum total of fraud found in the 2020 election amounts to exactly 12 people charged with crimes.

Twelve. In a state Joe Biden won by 10,000 votes.

“We, as prosecutors, deal in facts and evidence,” Brnovich said on Sunday. “And I’m not like the clowns that throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks.”

Clowns who may well be ensconced as governor, secretary of state and attorney general on Nov. 8, in part because it took far too long for Brnovich to locate his conscience and speak out.

Release the final report of your findings, Mr. Brnovich. Now, before it’s too late.

If it already isn’t too late, that is.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Attorney General Mark Brnovich calls out Kari Lake's 'giant grift'