State Republicans Spent 2021 Running Bogus Election Audits. In 2022, They're Already Facing Consequences

     It cost the Cyber Ninjas $5.7 million to reaffirm the fact that Joe Biden won the state of Arizona. BY A LOT. While I find it funny that Trump supporters forked over $5.55 million of that money, I find it less funny that the Arizona Senate spent $150,000 of taxpayer money and even less funny that this "audit" is part of a grander scheme to sow doubt about American democracy. Now, however, while 2021 was the year of this phony "audit," 2022 is the year the Cyber Ninjas are beginning to pay for their actions, and I mean that literally. The Cyber Ninjas were the subject of a public records request by the Arizona Republic in June 2021 and, to this day, seven months later, have yet to turn over any relevant documents. Whether these documents even exist is a valid question, because this "company" was a group of partisan amateurs with no real experience in business or elections. In any case, it cost them big. The aforementioned paper requested that the judge overseeing the case fine the Cyber Ninjas $1,000 a day for every day they failed to present these records. The judge disagreed: he believed their refusal was worth $50,000 a day in fines, costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars this past week alone. As a result, the company's spokesman confirmed that they have shut down and fired all employees. That is a classic tactic to avoid the $50,000 in fines, but it won't work: the judge has already said he will apply the fine to the individuals in charge of the organization, not the organization itself. It appears that the Cyber Ninjas will have to either admit their audit was a sham or go bankrupt.

     Meanwhile, consequences are coming in Wisconsin. After Wisconsin's nonpartisan audit found just four cases of prosecutable voter fraud in a state Joe Biden won by more than 21,000 votes, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos waited just hours after Donald Trump issued a statement urging him to act to start a partisan "audit" similar to the one in Arizona. This "audit" has been headed by Michael Gableman, who threatened to put the mayors of Wisconsin's Democratic-leaning cities in jail. Now, however, it appears it is Vos and Gableman who are being "audited" after they were sued by liberal watchdog group American Oversight. After ignoring several requests for records, the duo produced a few scraps of paper to show for a monthslong "audit." While a Dane County judge would not hold Vos and Gableman in contempt of court, he did order them to appear for an in-person deposition. As these proceedings continue, they face a similar choice as the Cyber Ninjas, only Vos and Gableman face the risk of jail time.

     With these "audits" falling apart, we need to keep up the pressure to hold the GOP accountable for its coup attempt between November 3rd, 2020, and January 20th, 2021. Mark Meadows has been held in contempt by the U.S. House of Representatives and needs to be charged by the DOJ. Jim Jordan needs to be held in contempt and then charged. The dozens of fraudulent electors in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia need to be held accountable. The list goes on. This, however, is a start, and there cannot be healing before accountability.