Rep. Mark Finchem
has been saying for
weeks that he's only
days away from
turning over proof
of election fraud to
Arizona's attorney
general.
But now, four months
after voting ended,
he has not requested
a meeting with state
authorities. Nor has
he provided the
evidence he said
would spark a
criminal
investigation and a
grand jury probe.
The Attorney
General's Office
confirmed to The
Arizona Republic
that Finchem has not
contacted the office
to request an
investigation into
fraud that he and
other legislators
claim plagued the
state's 2020
election.
“Representative
Finchem has not met
with investigators
from our office to
discuss allegations
of voter fraud or
the 2020 election,"
Attorney General's
Office spokesman
Ryan Anderson said.
"Our office has
consistently said
that if anyone has
evidence of voter
fraud, they are
encouraged to
contact our
investigators."
Finchem, R-Oro
Valley, has touted
his evidence —
without specifics —
at rallies, on
social media and in
interviews with
conservative
pundits, including
Donald Trump's
former chief
strategist Steve
Bannon.
"We want the
Attorney General's
Office to examine
the evidence and to
make a determination
as to whether or not
a grand jury
investigation should
go forward," Finchem
told Bannon in a
livestream broadcast
at the Conservative
Political Action
Conference in
February.
Finchem said he and
Arizona Sen. Sonny
Borrelli, R-Lake
Havasu City, would
meet with state
authorities on March
3 to push for a
criminal
investigation.
"This coming
Wednesday, Sen.
Borrelli and I will
be meeting with
representatives from
the Arizona Attorney
General's Office,"
Finchem told Bannon.
"And we're going to
be asking for a
grand jury."
Bannon said Finchem
and Borrelli were
"tough hombres."
The meeting, like
others Finchem
promised, never
happened.
Finchem on Thursday
declined comment and
refused to discuss
his evidence of
election fraud. But
he tried to suggest
through a
spokesperson that
the attorney general
was investigating
his claims.
"He has consistently
declined comment on
any AZ AG
investigation that
may be in progress,"
the spokesperson
said.
Borrelli did not
respond to an
interview request on
Thursday.
Finchem talks up
case on far-right
sites
Finchem hasn't been
reluctant to talk
about an attorney
general's
investigation in
right-wing forums.
He's raised it twice
in podcast and
YouTube interviews
and he's promoted
his election fraud
claims in pro-Trump
journals, emails to
supporters, meetings
with legislators,
social media posts
and at rallies in
Arizona and
Washington, D.C.
In a Feb. 23
interview on Arizona
Today, a far-right
YouTube show,
Finchem said he and
Borrelli had
gathered enough
evidence of election
fraud to impanel a
grand jury. "In the
coming days,"
Finchem said, he
would seek a meeting
with the Attorney
General's Office.
"There's enough
there that pierces
the test for
probable cause,"
Finchem told host
Lyle Rapacki of
Prescott. "In
Arizona,
specifically, there
was sufficient
criminality before
the election, during
the election and
possibly even after
the election, for a
grand jury."
What does a grand
jury do?
Grand juries hear
cases brought by
prosecutors to
decide if there is
enough evidence to
charge a person with
a crime.
Impaneling a grand
jury is a secret and
complex process. A
person can't just
call up the Attorney
General's Office and
ask for a grand jury
investigation, not
even a legislator.
"Nobody has a
special right to a
grand jury," former
Arizona Attorney
General Terry
Goddard said. "An
outside party can't
simply tell you he
wants a grand jury."
Goddard, who served
as attorney general
from 2003 to 2011,
said the ability to
convene a grand jury
is a very important
power bestowed on
the office.
Arizona makes it a
crime for
authorities to
publicly discuss
grand juries or
their
investigations.
Jurors are impaneled
outside of the
public view,
consider evidence
and deliberate in
secret before
handing up any
indictments.
Goddard, a Democrat,
said Arizona's
electoral system has
withstood past
allegations of
fraud. And he said
the current
allegations of fraud
surrounding the 2020
election are very
familiar. |