Arizona legislature has become 'toxic' following conclusion of Trump audit: report

On Monday, U.S. News & World Reportrevealed that lawmakers in the Arizona legislature are facing a "toxic" environment after the partisan "audit" of Maricopa County ballots ordered by the state Senate.

According to the report, much of the abuse comes from Trump supporters who are furious the results of the audit have been delayed, as happened to Scottsdale Republican Michelle Ugenti-Rita.

"Ugenti-Rita said that on Sept. 9 she got a deluge of volatile emails accusing her of delaying the audit, but one email with bad grammar and spelling told her to 'give the American people the audit report or were coming for you,'" said the report. "The writer, an audit supporter who called himself 'Matt Boster,' addressed the senator with an ethnic slur and a swear word and said he knows where the senator and her family live and where she shops for groceries."

But there is also fury coming from Democrats outraged at the tactics employed by the auditors and the senators approving them, with GOP Senate President Karen Fann also singled out for anger. "Fann said she's 'absolutely' noticed a significant uptick in nasty and threatening emails this year that include 'every four or five letter word you can think of,'" said the report. "'The emails I've gotten from Democrats over these last few months have just been to some point, out-and-out disgusting,' Fann said."

The audit, which was launched with the help of a pro-Trump Florida based security firm called "Cyber Ninjas" amid conspiracy theories from the former president that the election was stolen. The proceedings, which featured conspiracy theories including hunting for bamboo fibers in ballots to prove they were Asian forgeries, ultimately lost the confidence of even some prominent Trump supporters.