UPDATE: Senate Turns Over Disputed "Audit" Records To Judge, Asks Him To Let Them Appeal (Again) Before Releasing Them (READ Request)

UPDATE, 10/14, 11am: Senate Turns Over Disputed "Audit" Records To Judge, Asks Him To Let Them Appeal (Again) Before Releasing Them (READ Request)

The Arizona Senate has presented disputed communications related to its "audit" of the 2020 Presidential election to Superior Court Judge John Hannah on Tuesday, while asking him to defer any public release so that they can (again) appeal to keep them under wraps.

"The Senate believes that rushed, piecemeal, and potentially redundant appellate review ill-serves the imperatives of careful deliberation and judicial economy," attorneys Kory Langhofer and Tom Basile write. They specifically mention appealing the "legislative privilege" issue, which Superior Court Judge John Hannah firmly rejected in his earlier ruling (in original article).

Hannah had given the Senate until the end of the day Tuesday to turn over six sets of records related to the election "audit". This is in the public records lawsuit brought by the Arizona Republic. There is a similar case brought by American Oversight.

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Original article, 10/12: BREAKING - Judge To Senate Pres. Fann: Give Me Missing "Audit" Records TODAY For In Chambers Review! (READ Ruling)

The Arizona Senate must turn over disputed records relating to its "audit" TODAY, decided Superior Court Judge John Hannah. He will inspect the string of text messages between Senate President Karen Fann and Phil Waldron, communications between Cyber Ninjas' President Doug Logan and Senate liaison Randy Pullen, and four other sets of documents; the judge will then decide whether they should be turned over to the Arizona Republic and be made public.

Hannah decided that Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and her attorneys have not overcome "the legal presumption favoring disclosure."

In addition to the communications above, the Senate must turn over:

-- draft contracts between the Senate and Cyber Ninjas, including the mark-ups by Shiva Ayyudurai;

-- "inter-chamber communications" between Fann, House members Leo Biasucci, Mark Finchem and Sen. Sonny Borrelli, at various stages of the "audit".

The Senate has already appealed the two public records lawsuits up to the Arizona Supreme Court, which turned the process for turning over the records back to Judge Hannah. The second lawsuit was filed by American Oversight, and Judge Michael Kemp yesterday turned down a reiteration of the Senate's motion to consolidate the two lawsuits.

"AZ Law" includes articles, commentaries and updates about opinions from the Arizona Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts, etc. AZ Law is founded by Phoenix attorney Paul Weich, and joins Arizona's Politics on the internet. 

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