On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" suffered yet another blow as Arizona's right-wing attorney general, Mark Brnovich, released a report that — despite doing all it could to find fault with the election procedures in the state — failed to find any evidence that the election was actually stolen or corrupted.
"Investigators with the office's Election Integrity Unit suggested the county lacked adequate methods to verify voter signatures on early ballots and found holes in its chain of custody for ballots deposited in drop boxes," reported the Arizona Republic's Mary Jo Pitzl and Ray Stern. "The report also raised questions about other election procedures, including the use of private grant money to help stage the election during a pandemic, and promised further investigation into election-related matters."
However, the results did not validate any of Trump's conspiracy theories.
"Overall, it made no accusations of wrongdoing on the part of any individuals and did not cite specific instances of possible crimes, though it notes that the 'investigation is still developing in material ways,'" said the report. "While it details potential flaws in the process, it does not provide any evidence that the election outcome would have been different. Joe Biden won Maricopa County, putting Arizona in his column and helping to seal his 2020 victory over Donald Trump."
What's more, according to Axios reporter Jeremy Duda, even Brnovich's limited findings of procedural flaws may have not been accurate.
"When it comes to how Brnovich reached the figure that election officials on one day spent an average of just 4.6 seconds verifying each signature," Duda notes, "Gates and Richer said he cherry-picked that from one employee, despite having access to 40 people involved in signature verification."
When it comes to how Brnovich reached the figure that election officials on one day spent an average of just 4.6 seconds verifying each signature, Gates and Richer said he cherry-picked that from one employee, despite having access to 40 people involved in signature verificationpic.twitter.com/EZE4loQAPh— Jeremy Duda (@Jeremy Duda) 1649294258
This comes after Trump himself demanded Brnovich finish the investigation and find the fraud in a statement on March 18.
"When is the Attorney General of Arizona going to rule on all of the Election Fraud and large-scale Election Irregularities that wait before him?" said Trump. "People want to know whether or not Attorney General Brnovich is up to doing the right thing, or is it just politics as usual."
Brnovich is seeking Trump's endorsement as he runs for the U.S. Senate in Arizona against incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). He is facing venture capitalist Blake Masters, Corporations Commissioner Justin Olson, former National Guard Gen. Michael McGuire and businessman Jim Lamon in the GOP primary.
