Democratic officials and pro-democracy groups worry that the Trump administration’s latest efforts to relitigate Arizona’s past elections are part of a larger attempt to sow doubt ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation into the 2020 election that President Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. And Capitol Media Services reported the department requested access to documents the attorney has related to the 2020 election.
That revelation came after Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen confirmed he turned over documents to the FBI related to the Senate’s so-called audit of Maricopa County’s election that year.
President Trump has long claimed, without evidence, that he won the 2020 presidential election and has continually pushed unproven conspiracy theories that widespread voter fraud in Arizona and other battleground states contributed to his loss.
Now, Democrats worry the administration is rehashing those claims to appease the president and undermine voter confidence.
“This election has been litigated and litigated and litigated,” Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said. “Donald Trump lost.”
The new investigations
It appears the FBI and DHS are conducting separate investigations into the 2020 election.
The FBI declined to comment on why it sought the records from the Arizona Senate, and the Senate has not yet responded to a records request seeking more information on what specific documents it turned over.
Richie Taylor, a spokesman for Attorney General Kris Mayes, said she provided DHS a report by her predecessor, Mark Brnovich, reviewing the Senate’s “audit,” as well as some documents that Brnovich did not make public before he left office at the end of 2022.
Taylor said there was no subpoena, as all those documents are public records.
Taylor said that Mayes did turn over some findings released in 2022 by Brnovich in which he claimed his office had “uncovered instances of election fraud by individuals who have been or will be prosecuted for various election crimes.”
That, however, wasn't all Mayes turned over to Homeland Security. Taylor said they also got a follow-up report she released after taking office in 2023, a report that included evidence that Brnovich and his top aide had been told by their own staffers, even before releasing the 2022 report, that there was no basis for such claims of fraud.
And Taylor said that, in response to further requests from Homeland Security, the Attorney General's Office last week even prepared a Power Point presentation. But he said that there has been no further cooperation with Homeland Security since then.
What makes the information Mayes turned over to Homeland Security significant is that it represents two different views of what did and did not happen in the 2020 election.
Brnovich, a Republican, was running in 2022 for U.S. Senate. And his report included various allegations that signatures may not have been properly verified on early ballot envelopes and that “there are problematic systemwide issues that related to early ballot handling and verification.”
But Mayes, a Democrat who won her 2022 election to replace Brnovich, disclosed in her 2023 report information she said Brnovich had withheld from the public, including a memo from the agency's Special Investigations Section — information she said showed that her predecessor knew there was no basis for what the attorney general was reporting in 2022.
That 2022 memo said that agents and support staff had spent more than 10,000 hours investigating and reviewing alleged instances of illegal voting submitted by various private parties. Those came not only from Cyber Ninjas, the private firm without any election auditing experience hired by then-Senate President Karen Fann to conduct the audit, but also True the Vote, which has been at the forefront of denying the results of the 2020 election.
“In each instance and in each matter, the aforementioned parties did not provide any evidence to support their allegations,'' that memo stated. "The information that was provided was speculated in many instances and when investigated by our agents and support staff, was found to be inaccurate.”
Investigators also said elected officials who had made public statements asserting that voting fraud had occurred did not repeat those claims when told they could be prosecuted for making false reports to law enforcement agencies.
That included Sen. Mark Finchem (R-Prescott), who had publicly stated he had a source reporting that more than 30,000 fraudulent or fictitious votes were registered in Pima County during the 2020 general election.
“During that meeting, Mr. Finchem did not repeat those allegations, specifically stating he did not have any evidence of fraud and he did not wish to take up our time,” the investigators reported.
They also said that Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) — who had alleged widespread fraud in the 2020 election — "refused to meet with us, saying she was waiting to see the 'perp walk' of those who committed fraud during the election.''
A warning to election officials
Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, both Democrats, also sent a letter to county recorders across Arizona, warning them not to comply with federal subpoenas seeking election data.
They claimed the subpoenas are an attempt to circumvent an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Trump administration after Fontes refused to turn over the state’s voting records.
“I implore you to fulfill your oath by declining any such illegal demands,” the letter to the recorders says.
“If your office receives a federal grand jury subpoena demanding that you turn over voters' private data, we urge you to notify our offices immediately,'' they wrote. “The grand jury should not serve to circumvent Arizona's ongoing lawsuit, and our offices will pursue all legal actions available to prevent the Department of Justice from misusing the grand jury process.”
On Monday, Maricopa County election officials told KJZZ they had not received any subpoenas for voting records.
In his ongoing fight with the feds, Fontes has repeatedly argued that state privacy laws prevent him from giving the Department of Justice unfettered access to Arizona’s voter rolls. A federal court in California blocked a similar effort targeting that state’s voting records.
“We have a sacred duty to protect our constituents’ privacy and uphold the law, and we urge you to stand with American democracy and protect Arizona citizens from the federal government’s unprecedented abuse of authority,” Fontes and Mayes wrote.
Republicans in Arizona have criticized Mayes and Fontes for sending the letter.
“Unlike our current AG, I will always support law enforcement and comply with the law!” Petersen, the Senate president who is running for state attorney general, wrote on social media.
A shot across the bow
President Trump and his allies celebrated when news broke that Petersen turned over documents from the Senate’s 2020 election review to the FBI.
“Great!!!” the president wrote on social media.
In Scottsdale, local Republican party officials also welcomed the news.
“Let’s hope it leads to prosecutions,” Legislative District 3 GOP Chair Stuart Scurti told members at a meeting on Monday night.
Someone in the crowd of local party members, also called precinct committeemen, responded by shouting “executions.”
“Did I say executions?” Scurti replied.
But critics of the federal government’s actions argue the latest FBI and DHS investigations are less about prosecuting actual election fraud and more about appeasing the president and undermining confidence in the results of future elections.
“These attacks on state authority and elections are all with an eye to the 2026 midterms,” said Dax Goldstein, senior counsel with the States United Democracy Center. “They're trying to undermine public trust in state and local officials who keep our elections free and fair, and that is really harmful and has real impact.”
States United Democracy Center is a non-partisan pro-democracy organization, though the Arizona Republic reported it has close ties to Hobbs, Mayes and Fontes, Arizona’s top three elected Democrats.
Goldstein said the federal government is targeting swing states like Arizona that Trump lost in 2020, including Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
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