The FBI has obtained digital election records from Maricopa County, Arizona, related to a 2021 partisan audit of the 2020 presidential election, according to Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen. The material, which may include scans and photos of ballots, was stored by the Arizona Senate after the county destroyed its original ballots following a two-year retention period required by state law.
The records came from Cyber Ninjas, a firm hired by Senate Republican leaders to conduct the audit. The firm was funded by and took direction from allies of former President Donald Trump. In text messages obtained through public records requests, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan described the firm's ballot recounts as "screwy."
The FBI's acquisition of these records follows a federal grand jury subpoena. It mirrors a similar investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, where the FBI obtained actual ballots from the 2020 election. However, election experts say the Maricopa County material differs fundamentally in ways that could threaten the investigation's integrity.
What the Right Is Saying
Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican who helped launch the 2021 audit and facilitated the FBI handover, has defended the investigation as necessary for electoral accountability. Petersen received the federal grand jury subpoena and coordinated the record transfer to law enforcement.
Trump allies have long targeted Maricopa County as part of their effort to examine the 2020 election. The former president's campaign falsely claimed that Dominion Voting Systems machines had been manipulated to switch votes from Trump to Biden. The Trump administration has sought access to Dominion machines from multiple jurisdictions since retaking power.
Supporters of the investigation argue that the FBI has both the authority and the responsibility to examine potential irregularities, regardless of prior audits. They note that the 2021 Cyber Ninjas audit, while controversial, did examine the county's election management system and ballot tabulators in ways that could yield new information for federal investigators.
The Trump administration has characterized its election investigations as essential for restoring public trust in American democracy, arguing that voters deserve thorough examination of voting systems they believe may have been compromised.
What the Left Is Saying
Democrats and election integrity advocates say the FBI's reliance on Cyber Ninjas data undermines any potential findings from the investigation. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who served as secretary of state during the 2021 audit, said she does not believe anyone should have confidence in whatever emerges from the FBI's review.
"I don't think anyone should have confidence in whatever comes out of whatever was turned over to the FBI," Hobbs said in an interview with ProPublica.
Progressive advocates argue that reinvestigating a thoroughly audited election wastes federal resources and perpetuates debunked claims about the 2020 results. They note that multiple courts rejected lawsuits alleging fraud, and the county's own post-election hand-counts confirmed the results.
The White House has tasked Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who previously assisted Trump in challenging his 2020 loss, with helping to lead the criminal inquiry. Democrats have characterized this as a politically motivated effort to advance Trump's false election claims.
What the Numbers Show
Maricopa County's 2020 election results have been confirmed through multiple independent verification processes. The county conducted a post-election hand-count that confirmed the original tabulation. Additional audits by independent firms commissioned by the county also verified the results.
Courts dismissed several lawsuits filed by Trump's lawyers alleging fraud in Arizona's 2020 election. The Cyber Ninjas audit itself concluded that Biden won the county and found no evidence of widespread fraud, despite being conducted by a firm aligned with Trump's claims.
The original 2020 ballots were destroyed in 2023 after the two-year retention period mandated by Arizona state law. This means the FBI cannot directly examine the physical ballots, unlike in Fulton County where ballots remain in secure court storage.
Cyber Ninjas examined digital scans and data from Dominion Voting Systems machines used in the 2020 election. The firm's text messages show internal acknowledgment of problems with their recount procedures.
The Bottom Line
The FBI's investigation into Maricopa County election records faces significant analytical challenges, according to election experts who observed the original audit. Any conclusions drawn from the Cyber Ninjas data risk being fundamentally flawed, given documented failures in the firm's procedures.
The investigation represents an escalation in the Trump administration's efforts to revisit the 2020 election. While the FBI has legal authority to examine records related to potential federal crimes, experts say the quality of the underlying data may limit what any investigation can conclusively determine.
Maricopa County voters chose Joe Biden in 2020, and the county's results have withstood multiple levels of scrutiny. The FBI's examination will likely focus on whether any procedural violations occurred, rather than changing the election's outcome, which has already been certified and confirmed.