The top Department of Justice official in Arizona is reviewing a referral from the Republican state Senate president, who accused Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes of interfering in a federal investigation into the 2020 presidential election.
Last week, Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) referred Mayes and Fontes, both Democrats, to U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for investigation in relation to an ongoing attempt by the Trump administration to relitigate the election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
That came after Petersen turned over a trove of electronic records to the FBI from the Senate’s much-maligned “audit” of that election in Maricopa County, which still concluded Biden won. Courchaine, who was appointed by the Trump administration last year to run the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, signed off on the grand jury subpoena seeking those records.
Petersen accused Mayes and Fontes of witness tampering and obstruction of justice after the state officials, both Democrats, warned county recorders not to comply with similar subpoenas over concerns turning over sensitive voter data could violate state and federal privacy laws.
“This pattern of conduct suggests an inappropriate attempt to interfere with the grand jury's ongoing investigation,” Petersen wrote.
In a response, Courchaine said his office is “is carefully reviewing the facts surrounding the letter that you received from the state,” though he also indicated he has already concluded that Mayes and Fontes had “undermine(d) the federal grand jury's constitutionally enshrined right to investigate violations of federal law or ensure no such crime occurred.”
“While it is astonishing that public servants who are charged with upholding the law would try to dissuade or threaten others to ignore proper legal processes, I appreciate that you did your due diligence and sought the advice of an unbiased advisor,” Courchaine wrote, referring to an outside legal opinion Petersen commissioned from a Republican-aligned lawyer, who found the Senate President acted appropriately in turning over records to the FBI.
Mayes and Fontes dismissed the whole ordeal as a politically motivated attempt to placate Trump, who has spent years spreading disproven conspiracies about Arizona’s elections.
Mayes called the letter “all nonsense,” and accused Petersen of using the controversy to help his campaign as he seeks the Republican nomination to challenge Mayes in the 2026 race for attorney general.
“This is a U.S. Attorney alongside a candidate for this office who is trying desperately to curry favor with Donald Trump as he comes to town on Friday, where he'll undoubtedly continue to lie about his loss in Arizona six years ago,” Mayes said.
Fontes expressed a similar sentiment.
“Playing games with your tax dollars to appease conspiracy theorists is more than a disservice; it’s a degradation of the offices these men hold,” Fontes said in a statement.
As for the allegations that her office interfered with the ongoing federal inquiry, Mayes said there is nothing there, either.
“It’s utter nonsense,” she said.
Both Fontes and Mayes also expressed confidence in the state’s elections and said they will continue to fight attempts by the federal government to collect sensitive voter information.
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