AZ Sec of State Assigned Protection After Getting Death Threats Because of That Ridiculous Election ‘Audit’

Sarah RumpfMay 7th, 2021, 6:37 pm
 
katie hobbs

Photo of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, provided by Office of the Secretary of State.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has been assigned protection after she was the target of death threats related to the election “audit” being conducted in Maricopa County, Az.

The “audit” is being conducted by a Florida-based consulting firm called Cyber Ninjas, which has absolutely zero prior experience in auditing elections. Among other ridiculousness, the group has been scanning ballots with UV light, allegedly to detect if they contain bamboo fibers, based on a bonkers conspiracy theory that tens of thousands of ballots were secretly flown in from Asia.

To be clear, the “audit” — even if it were a properly conducted audit by people who possessed actual expertise — is not going to change the results of the 2020 presidential election. There is no legal pathway for the Maricopa County results to be overturned at this point, and even if there was and it was enough to flip President Joe Biden’s victory there to former President Donald Trump, Arizona’s electoral votes alone are not enough to give Trump the victory.

“This whole thing is ludicrous, quite frankly,” said Cindy McCain, widow of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), about the “audit.”

“The election is over,” she added. “Biden won.”

Yes, the election is over, Biden won, and this audit isn’t going to change any of it. Or perhaps “fraudit” is a better term, as Hobbs herself tweeted. “[T]his #fraudit is undermining confidence in our elections” and “making Arizona a national joke,” wrote Hobbs.

That sentiment has made Hobbs a target of some Trump supporters, and her office made an official request for security detail for her to Gov. Doug Ducey’s (R-AZ) office on Thursday afternoon. Death threats were “pouring in,” Hobbs’ press secretary, C. Murphy Hebert, told CNN.

According to CNN, the security request “was prompted by an incident involving a Gateway Pundit reporter who misidentified himself as a ‘YouTuber’ and ran after Hobbs and her press staff.” Hebert told CNN that the office had also received a “very specific death threat asking about what she was wearing that day so she could be identified easily.”

Ducey’s office granted the request, and local KPNX reporter Brahm Resnik confirmed that the governor had assigned state troopers to provide “round-the-clock” protection for Hobbs.

“Let me be very clear: I will never be intimidated out of telling the truth, defending our elections, and serving the people of Arizona,” tweeted Hobbs on Friday.

Hobbs previously tangled with Trump supporters when she smacked down the “SharpieGate” conspiracy falsely claiming Republican voters were told to vote with Sharpie markers so their ballots would be invalidated.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.