Arizona state senator says FBI seeking data on elections from 2020 to 2024
Sen. Mark Finchem is part of a group of state legislators who have insisted Arizona elections -- particularly in Maricopa County -- have suffered from irregularities for years.
A Republican Arizona state senator who once ran for secretary of state said Monday night that the FBI is seeking evidence from Maricopa County elections spanning from 2020 to 2024.
"I do know that it covers 2020 information up to 2024, and 2022 probably is in the middle of that," State Sen. Mark Finchem told the Just the News, No Noise television show. "So when we look at that as a bracket, almost nothing was changed from 2020 to 2024. So the systems are basically the same."
Finchem said he believes the FBI served a grand jury subpoena -- first reported Sunday night by Just the News -- as well as a sealed search warrant laying out the scope of evidence it wanted from the state Senate and others concerning elections in Maricopa County, the state's largest metropolis and home to the city of Phoenix.
Finchem's comments augmented information that state Senate President Warren Peterson gave on social media earlier in the day acknowledging he turned over 2020 election data to the FBI under subpoena.
Finchem also disputed a social media post from former Maricopa County elections chief Steve Richer that suggested the FBI request for election data was limited to 2020.
"Quite frankly, I think it would be irresponsible to say that 2024 is not part of the investigation," Finchem said. "You know, FBI investigations and grand juries have a tendency to give a little bit of latitude to the US attorney to go as far as they need to identify the players in a corrupt scheme," he said.
Finchem is part of a group of Arizona legislators who have insisted Arizona elections -- particularly in Maricopa County -- have suffered from irregularities for years. Richer has been among the most vocal election administrators to push back at those claims, insisting they are unfounded. He did so again in a social post on Monday.
"For those happy people who haven't thought about the 2020 election in a long time," he wrote. " A reminder that: - Maricopa County did a post-election hand-count audit - Multiple lawsuits, involving evidence, failed following the 2020 election - Trump's own 2020 election law team said "we're not alleging fraud." - The Cyber Ninjas were discredited, admitted some of their own errors, and went bankrupt after their Arizona adventure.