Trump’s Efforts to Challenge Arizona’s 2020 Election Results Unveiled
A recently disclosed court document provides an in-depth look at the efforts made by Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona, highlighting attempts to pressure state officials into reversing his loss.
The filing, made by Jack Smith, a special counsel for the US Justice Department, accuses Trump of committing crimes in his bid to stay in office. Smith has charged Trump with four counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, overseeing the case, has released a redacted version of the document, excluding the names of individuals not charged by Smith. The Copper Courier has managed to identify these individuals using their prior reporting.
The complete court filing is available here.
Arizona’s Role in the Election Challenge
Within a week of the election, the defendant knew there was no evidence of widespread fraud in Arizona. On November 9, two days after major news networks had called the election for Biden, Trump reached out to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to inquire about the state’s vote count.
Although Fox News had projected Biden’s victory in Arizona, other outlets like ABC, NBC, CNN, and the New York Times had not yet made a prediction. During their call, Ducey explained the remaining vote margins, emphasizing that many were from Pima County, which leaned towards Biden, and Maricopa County, which was more divided. He metaphorically described the situation as “the ninth inning, two outs, and [the defendant] was several runs down.”
Trump alleged election fraud and promised to send evidence to Ducey, claiming “we’re packaging it up,” but never did. On November 13, Campaign Manager Bill Stephen informed Trump that a circulating fraud claim about non-citizen voting in Arizona was false.
Despite this, Trump and Rudy Giuliani continued their efforts to influence Ducey, with Giuliani attempting contact on November 22 — the same day they reached out to the Arizona Speaker of the House.
On November 30, when Ducey certified Biden’s electors, Trump and Pence called Ducey, who once more requested evidence for Trump’s fraud claims, which was not provided. That evening, Trump publicly criticized Ducey and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Twitter, sharing posts questioning their allegiance to the Republican Party.
Pressure on Arizona Legislature
Trump and his co-conspirators also attempted to persuade political allies in the Arizona legislature to disregard the popular vote and appoint illegitimate electors. On November 22, Trump and Giuliani called Rusty Bowers, Speaker of the Arizona House, presenting false fraud claims and urging him to convene the legislature to replace Biden’s electors.
Bowers, skeptical of these claims, requested evidence, which was never provided. A subsequent meeting with Giuliani yielded no proof, only theories. In frustration, Bowers publicly declared on December 4 that he couldn’t use the legislature to overturn the election results based on unsupported fraud theories, stating that such an action would nullify the people’s vote.
Later, Trump’s campaign staffer Liz Harington criticized Bowers on Twitter, to which Trump responded by retweeting and praising her.
Further pressure came from John Eastman, another of Trump’s attorneys, who called Bowers on January 4, urging him to decertify Arizona’s legitimate electors. Despite admitting a lack of knowledge about fraud in Arizona, Eastman suggested Bowers should falsely claim authority to convene the legislature. Bowers refused, citing legal and ethical constraints.
Throughout this period, Bowers faced harassment, with individuals gathering outside his home, causing distress to his ailing daughter.
