The Secrets of the 'Cyber Ninjas' Will Not Stand in Arizona GOP's Useless 2020 Recount, Judge Rules
Tom McKay
2 hours ago
The state judge overseeing a Democratic challenge to the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate’s “audit” of the 2020 election—a secretive effort the state GOP is using as a sort of Hail Mary to overturn or at least delegitimize Joe Biden’s victory there—has ordered that the process no longer be conducted behind closed doors.
Biden won the county by 45,000 votes, and there has been no evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever, simply wild speculation by Donald Trump supporters that only some type of insidious conspiracy could possibly explain his loss. The Arizona secretary of state’s office has stated the results have already been certified and there is no possibility of changing them. The “audit” is being conducted by Cyber Ninjas, a little-known and dubiously qualified Florida-based firm owned by “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theorist Doug Logan that claims Trump actually won the state by 200,000 votes.
On Tuesday, per the Arizona Mirror, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin shot down an attempt by lawyers representing the firm and Republicans in the Arizona Senate to restrict the public from attending a Wednesday hearing where Republicans sought to keep secret the manner in which they are conducting the recount of 2.1 million votes. He added he had concerns the privacy of voter data was not being respected, and the GOP side had failed to persuade him “that the rights of the voters in Maricopa County are being protected.” Then, during that Wednesday hearing, according to Fox 10, Martin ruled against state Democrats that the audit can continue, but Cyber Ninja will not be allowed to keep their procedures secret.
Cyber Ninja claimed that the secrecy was needed because their recount procedures are trade secrets. While Martin granted the firm until Thursday to file an appeal, the outlook for the Ninjas looks pretty grim. According to Talking Points Memo, their original legal team has bailed and their new attorneys don’t seem to have bothered to bring themselves up to speed on the case:
Wednesday’s hearing had a particularly rocky start for Cyber Ninjas. Just before the hearing, they asked that it be postponed for one to two days because the lawyers that had been representing the company were were withdrawing from the case and being replaced by a new legal team. Judge Martin granted the request to let the original lawyers withdraw, but would not grant the delay. Nor would he grant a request made after he denied the delay bid that the original legal team be allowed to argue in Wednesday’s hearing.
More:
https://gizmodo.com/the-secrets-of-the-cyber-ninjas-will-not-stand-in-arizo-1846784562
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