State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-14) is referring Arizona Attorney General (AG) Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes for alleged obstruction of justice and witness tampering in a federal election integrity investigation.
State Sen. Petersen announced the referral on social media, writing, "Today I referred Kris Mayes and Adrian Fontes to the Department of Justice for obstruction of justice and tampering with a witness. It is disturbing to see their resistance to an election integrity investigation."
In a letter to Arizona District Attorney Timothy Courchaine, State Sen. Petersen described how AG Mayes and Secretary Fontes were "requesting detailed information about records the Arizona State Senate produced in response to a federal grand jury subpoena," allegedly as a form of obstruction and witness tampering as the federal government sought 2020 Election records.
As previously reported, the Arizona Senate President complied with a subpoena requested by the federal government to audit the state's 2020 Election records, focusing primarily on Maricopa County.
AG Mayes challenged the probe, saying, "We had multiple audits on our 2020 election, multiple investigations, all of which showed our election was run absolutely solidly." She further accused the Trump Administration of using the investigation to distract from issues such as the Epstein files, the ongoing Iran conflict, and affordability. However, correspondence between Petersen and the law firm Snell & Wilmer suggested that Mayes and Fontes told all 15 Arizona county records that compliance with the probe "would violate both federal and state law."
No such law exists.
"The Attorney General and Secretary’s March letters are not merely inappropriate—they are legally reckless," the Snell & Wilmer letter states. "Their professed concern for Arizonans’ privacy rings hollow when measured against their willingness to misstate the law to advance a political agenda, and to threaten public officials with criminal prosecution for complying with a valid federal court process."
Petersen previously clashed with Mayes on social media earlier in March over a lawsuit over Arizona's sex offender registry laws, accusing her of being soft on crime.
