Arizona prosecutors obtain huge trove of Trump allies' communications in election probe

Prosecutors in Arizona working under Attorney General Kris Mayes have gained access to a large cache of emails, phone records, and other messages sent by allies of President-elect Donald Trump in their criminal investigation of the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Politico reported Friday.

"Arizona prosecutors are continuing to advance one of the only remaining significant criminal cases arising from Trump’s 2020 gambit to stay in power," reported Kyle Cheney. "And the fight over the data shows the prospect that significant details of that effort may still remain shielded from public view. A grand jury convened by Mayes, a Democrat, in April indicted 18 Trump allies related to the 2020 plot. The grand jury identified Trump as a co-conspirator in the case but opted against charging him, partly at the urging of prosecutors."

The other cases that charged Trump directly for the election plot have either been dismissed outright or remain in limbo.

This week, a Georgia appeals court ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must be removed from the election racketeering case against Trump and his allies in that state for the appearance of impropriety, and it is an open question whether a replacement prosecutor will continue the case.

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While prosecutors have obtained the documents, they cannot review them for evidence yet, as a judge granted the 18 defendants in the criminal case the right to filter out irrelevant information before the review can proceed.

The Arizona case focuses on the "fake elector" plot to overturn President Joe Biden's narrow win in the state, and in addition to the fake electors targets a number of close Trump allies, including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. One of the fake electors took a deal to cooperate in the case earlier this year.

Despite all of this litigation over the plots to overturn the 2020 election, a number of election deniers ended up overseeing election administration in 2024, and Trump managed to narrowly win key battleground states he tried to overturn last time.