This week, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) went after the ongoing so-called audit of presidential election ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, where Republican officials from the state Senate have been leading a re-examination of the outcome of last year’s presidential race. There is not and has never been any substantive indication of any kind of systematic security problem with the election, but this reality hasn’t stopped the conspiracy-based efforts of Republicans in the Arizona state Senate.
Cheney shared an article on Twitter that recapped remarks from local Maricopa County officials including Republicans, who recently described the so-called audit as a “sham” and a “con” and said that they’d be refusing to attend a hearing called by the conspiracists behind the effort. The state Senate is leading the audit effort after subpoenaing ballots and election-related materials from local authorities. Quoting from the article, Cheney shared on Twitter as follows:
‘The GOP-dominated Maricopa County [Board] of Supervisors denounced an audit of the 2020 election vote as a “sham” & a “con,” calling on the GOP-led state Senate to end the controversial “recount” that has been championed by Trump.’
‘Our democracy is imperiled’
The GOP-dominated Maricopa County Bd of Supervisors denounced an audit of the 2020 election vote as a “sham” & a “con,” calling on the GOP-led state Senate to end the controversial “recount” that has been championed by Trump. https://t.co/FDxaNoerK7— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 18, 2021
Trump has spoken about the conspiracy-peddling Maricopa County audit/ recount effort on his blog that he set up in the absence of access to major social media platforms. Echoing (although not directly quoting) a false claim from Arizona state Senate President Sen. Karen Fann (R), Trump recently insisted that the “entire Database of Maricopa County in Arizona has been DELETED,” which is — true to form — not accurate.
As explained by The Washington Post, Maricopa County officials (including local Republicans) explained, in reference to the outside interests brought in by Republican state officials to handle the audit, “that it appeared that the contractor had failed to properly search and locate the files from a copy they had made of the server’s contents.” In other words, those involved in the disgraceful effort have been trumpeting a false claim of deleted files after failing to conduct a search for the files correctly. The incompetence is just staggering, and it goes on from there. Those involved in the audit have even searched for bamboo fibers among the materials on the basis of the ludicrous theory that fraudulent ballots may have been shipped in from Asia.
Cheney was recently voted out of a position of party leadership by House Republicans after she consistently refused to go along with Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was somehow rigged.
