Arizona Republicans finally backing away from Cyber Ninjas and its dubious election "audit"

[annabenedetti]

Arizona Republicans finally backing away from Cyber Ninjas and its dubious election "audit"​

Republican talk-show host calls audit "very biased"; friends of Cyber Ninjas founder say he's in MyPillow land​

The Republican-led Arizona election "audit," which recently has inspired a new echo in Montana, now faces opposition from a conservative talk radio who initially backed the effort and also fresh turmoil surrounding Cyber Ninjas, the previously unknown firm hired to carry out the audit.

With the audit entering its final days, conservative talk-show host Mike Broomhead told CNN anchor Pamela Brown over the weekend that his position on the audit had changed in recent weeks because Republicans had let the procedure become "biased" and overtly partisan in nature.

"I just think that they lost focus on being fair and unbiased," he stated on CNN. "I think they have allowed it to turn into a very biased audit, where they are speaking only to the people that already believed ahead of time that the election was stolen, and they haven't really produced any evidence to the contrary."

Broomhead had not initially argued that the election was stolen, but said he thought the audit would be a worthwhile measure to ensure confidence in the electoral process.

"This is not about politics for me," he told The Arizona Republic in mid-June. "It's not about right and left. It's about right and wrong. I'm an Arizonan, and I'm an American before I'm a Republican, but I'm proud of all three. I don't see the direction this audit is going as doing the state of Arizona or the country any good anymore. The goal of a transparent and unbiased audit is gone. You've either got to fix it or end it."

But it's not only Broomhead who is speaking out against his fellow Republicans.

On Monday evening, Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, ripped into the never-ending audit in his county, the state's major population center. "Let's be honest, this Arizona audit isn't going to convince anyone outside of the crowd that already believes the election was stolen," he told CNN host Anderson Cooper. "We think that the Arizona Senate boarded this train without knowledge of where it was going, and I don't think it's going to a good place."

While the slow-moving audit has generated intense coverage from right-wing media, no evidence has been produced that challenge the official and certified result, which was that Joe Biden won Arizona by roughly 10,500 votes.

Judges across the country have tossed out cases alleging widespread election fraud, which has not deterred Trump acolytes like former 2016 campaign head Steve Bannon from pushing for a "freight train" of nationwide Republican audits.

While the Arizona audit is pushing onward and Trump allies pushing for audits in other states, the firm tapped to lead the audit, Cyber Ninjas — headed by fervent Trump supporter Doug Logan — is now under increased scrutiny.

According to a CNN report last week, friends and acquaintances of Logan describe him as increasingly sounding like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has made increasingly wild allegations of a widespread voter-fraud conspiracy.

"It's hard to say anything bad about the guy. He's a lovely person. He's just nuts now," said Tony Summerlin, who has been friends with Logan for 15 years, and said he helped him win a cybersecurity contract with the Federal Communications Commission five years ago. "It's scary; because if someone like him can turn into this, who can't turn into this?"
Summerlin said that in all the years he'd known Logan, before the Arizona audit, "we never, never had a single political conversation; that's what stunned me about this. ... He said, 'there's definitely something there.' I said, 'based on what?' He said, 'it'll come.' I said, 'you sound like the My Pillow guy.'"

. . . .

Cyber Ninjas now appears to be running with a skeleton staff. CNN reports that most of the company's listed phone lines, including those supposedly dedicated to "purchasing" and "human resources," redirect to Logan's phone.

 

[Arthur Brain]

Hopefully more will follow suit. Calling this audit bonkers isn't enough...

Conservative talk show host says the Arizona audit is a disaster for the GOP (he's right)

KTAR's Mike Broomhead is committing blasphemy in Republican circles. He's calling the election audit what it is – an absolute mess.

eu.azcentral.com

 

[annabenedetti]

Arizona election audit takes wild turn: Voter data is transported to a "secret" lab in another state​

Arizona voter data hits the road, and the location it's being sent to is apparently a secret​

The Republican-led Arizona audit being conducted by the Florida-based tech company Cyber Ninjas took an unexpected turn after voter data was transported to a mystery "lab" in Montana to be "forensically evaluated" by a third party.

At some point during the audit, CyFIR — a digital security firm subcontracted by Cyber Ninjas — was enlisted to examine ballots. But it wasn't until Arizona Republic reporter Jen Fifield started digging through a state-run "SOS" website posting audit updates that she noticed "copies" of data were being "sent to a lab in Montana."

Upon further research, the Arizona Republic traced the data's whereabouts back to a Montana property whose owner was listed as CyFIR CEO Ben Cotton on public records.

. . . .

At the time, Ken Bennett, an audit official, informed the Arizona Republic that he wasn't aware of how the data in the hands of Cotton and his firms was being kept safe. Weeks later, Bennett told CNN that CYFIR was allowed to send copies of voter data to Montana on a truck.

"Bennett tells us he doesn't know where the so-called 'lab' is," CNN reporter Gary Tuchman said during the televised report. "It is apparently a secret."

. . . .

While the CNN reporter got within eye-shot of a cabin on the Montana property, he could not walk beyond that point due to a "private property" sign that warned against trespassing.

According to additional reporting conducted by CNN, the sprawling property owned by Cotton has numerous structures on site. It remains unclear whether the "lab" is actually located on the property — or if it even exists.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs shared the feature report, which has since caught the attention of many on social media.

"You can't make this stuff up," Hobbs told CNN. "If it wasn't happening right in front of our eyes, we wouldn't believe it was happening."

 

[User Name]

Sane Republicans are headed for a showdown with Trump's deranged, reality-denying, fanatical supporters.

It's going to be hilarious!

 

[Jefferson]

Poll: Majority of U.S. Voters Support Election Audits​

A majority of U.S. voters support forensic audits of election results, according to a Rasmussen poll released Wednesday.

“Arizona’s ongoing audit of 2020 election results has been widely criticized, but a majority of voters nationwide approve of the election integrity effort,” according to the poll report.

The report found 55 percent of likely U.S. voters support forensic audits of election results to ensure there was no vote fraud. Twenty-nine percent oppose such audits and 17 percent are not sure.

The same survey found 41 percent of voters “still don’t believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election fairly.”

 

[User Name]

Trump attacks Michigan Republicans after report finds no evidence of election fraud

Former president Donald Trump attacked Michigan Republicans on Thursday after a report concluded Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election

www.mlive.com

 

[annabenedetti]

Poll: Majority of U.S. Voters Support Election Audits​

A majority of U.S. voters support forensic audits of election results, according to a Rasmussen poll released Wednesday.

“Arizona’s ongoing audit of 2020 election results has been widely criticized, but a majority of voters nationwide approve of the election integrity effort,” according to the poll report.

The report found 55 percent of likely U.S. voters support forensic audits of election results to ensure there was no vote fraud. Twenty-nine percent oppose such audits and 17 percent are not sure.

The same survey found 41 percent of voters “still don’t believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election fairly.”

Of those "41 percent of voters who 'still don’t believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election fairly,' those 70% of Republicans sure skew the number.

Your article says "A majority of U.S. voters support forensic audits of election results," But the polling question asks:

1* The state of Arizona has conducted a forensic audit of 2020 election results in Maricopa County to ensure that there was no vote fraud. Do you support or oppose audits of election results?

The first poll question is clearly a leading question, and it's interesting how the wording shifted from forensic audit to audit.

Notably, the third question doesn't use President Joe Biden, just "Joe Biden," but even with that not-so-subtle nudge, the answer is: 48% think that expressing doubt about the outcome of elections undermines democracy in America, 34% say expressing such doubts does not undermine democracy and 18% aren't sure.

Always workin it, Rasmussen.

 

[annabenedetti]

Sane Republicans are headed for a showdown with Trump's deranged, reality-denying, fanatical supporters.

It's going to be hilarious!

The GOP created a monster it can't control. Reading comments elsewhere:

I will never trust the GOPe again..
The party of Backstabbers, Romney. Murkowski, Turtle Mitch, etc..
And YOU Mike Pence​

​

I support MAGA PATRIOTS ONLY..
Now and Forever!​

__________________________​

​

Voting the rinos out is a pipe dream... They have never​

defended our Constitution and they ain't gonna start doing it​

now.​

​

The only way to "save this nation" to remove the entire g.o.p.​

and start a new Conservative Party...​

__________________________​

​

Boom. Like all slimy, scumbag, two-faced RINOs, Pence is trying​

desperately to bury his role in helping bring down the greatest nation on​

earth. Traitorous, self-serving scum. His political life should be over.​

____________________________​

​

Pence listened to his global elite leaders and was amply​

rewarded for his traitorous deed.
​

 

[Rusha]

The GOP created a monster it can't control. Reading comments elsewhere:

I will never trust the GOPe again..​

The party of Backstabbers, Romney. Murkowski, Turtle Mitch, etc..​

And YOU Mike Pence​

​

I support MAGA PATRIOTS ONLY..​

Now and Forever!​

__________________________​

​

Voting the rinos out is a pipe dream... They have never​

defended our Constitution and they ain't gonna start doing it​

now.​

​

The only way to "save this nation" to remove the entire g.o.p.​

and start a new Conservative Party...​

__________________________​

​

Boom. Like all slimy, scumbag, two-faced RINOs, Pence is trying​

desperately to bury his role in helping bring down the greatest nation on​

earth. Traitorous, self-serving scum. His political life should be over.​

____________________________​

​

Pence listened to his global elite leaders and was amply​

rewarded for his traitorous deed.​

​

Oh no, not radical at all.

 

[annabenedetti]

How the Arizona Cyber Ninjas Audit Happened—In One Easy Step!​

It will amaze you how simple it is for politicians to hijack the ballots after an election.
by AMANDA CARPENTER

JUNE 28, 2021 5:14 AM

Donald Trump wasn’t able to use his big lie to overturn the 2020 election through local officials, the courts, or Congress. But it has been surprisingly easy for a couple of his Republican allies to seize 2.1 million ballots from Arizona’s most populous county to keep his conspiracy theory machine pumping.

All they needed to do was have the Arizona GOP Senate president and the GOP Senate Judiciary chairman send a subpoena for them. That was pretty much it. Once they got the ballots, they handed them off to the Cyber Ninjas for a “forensic audit” and then rented out the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum. And voila—the OAN mouthpieces skittered off to Phoenix to both fundraise off of, and provide live coverage about, the ongoing debacle.

To this day, there’s never been an actual vote by anyone in the Arizona state government on this so-called “audit.” There was never any discussion by a legislative body about protecting the security (and privacy) of those ballots. Or what practical issues might arise if the government lost possession of the ballots and related election equipment. The Senate president and Senate Judiciary chairman just . . . well, did it.

And for the long parade of Trump-aligned GOP legislators who made the pilgrimage to Arizona to observe the audit, the lesson is straightforward: They might be able to pull off “audits” in their states, too.

. . . .

When Fann was asked by the Associated Press about how she found the Cyber Ninjas, she couldn’t say. “To be honest with you, I can’t even tell you exactly what path led me here,” she said.

By total and complete coincidence, the CEO of Cyber Ninjas, Doug Logan, was a “Stop the Steal” advocate. He was also included on an “expert witness” list in a Michigan lawsuit alleging voter fraud in Antrim County. (Michigan’s GOP-led Senate issued a report debunking such claims last week.)

Lots more at the link.

 

[annabenedetti]

'It's a failure':​

Arizona audit appears to be backfiring on Republicans – and could haunt them at the ballot box​

A new poll shows that a partisan audit of votes cast in the 2020 presidential election could ultimately backfire on Republicans who appear on future ballots in Arizona, especially if they express support for the bogus effort.

Sean Noble, a top GOP operative in the state, told Politico of the controversial recount in Maricopa County, "it's a failure, it's a joke," adding that Republicans in other states should "avoid it. The election is long over, time to look forward."

Fernand Amandi, whose firm conducted the poll, said: "As bloody red meat for the MAGA Republican base, the audit is manna from heaven, but the problem is that Arizona is not a red state anymore. It's a swing state. The audit may be serving two interests: firing up the MAGA base but giving Democrats the opportunity to make the case to Arizona voters to stick with them."

The poll found Arizona voters oppose the audit by a margin of 49-46 percent — with those who are against it more likely to feel strongly about the issue. Meanwhile, independent voters who often decide elections in Arizona oppose the audit by a margin of 18 points. If a candidate supports the audit, Arizona voters would be less likely to support that politician by a margin of 9 points.

On Monday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which opposes the audit, revealed that it will have to replace voting machines used in the recount, at taxpayers' expense, because their legitimacy has been compromised. Meanwhile, the CEO of the Florida company that is conducting the audit, Cyber Ninjas, appears in a new conspiracy-theory film that claims the CIA helped steal the election from former President Donald Trump.


And while Democrats and Republicans broke along familiar partisan lines, independent voters upon whom the state pivots in close elections opposed the audit by 18 percentage points.

 

[User Name]

The poll found Arizona voters oppose the audit by a margin of 49-46 percent — with those who are against it more likely to feel strongly about the issue. Meanwhile, independent voters who often decide elections in Arizona oppose the audit by a margin of 18 points.

Would seem to be the case--and not just in Arizona, but nationwide:

The number of Americans identifying as Republican is the lowest it has been in a decade: Gallup poll

Polling data shows Republican party affiliation is down as independents leaning toward the Democratic party surge

www.marketwatch.com

 

[annabenedetti]

Would seem to be the case--and not just in Arizona, but nationwide:

The number of Americans identifying as Republican is the lowest it has been in a decade: Gallup poll

Polling data shows Republican party affiliation is down as independents leaning toward the Democratic party surge

www.marketwatch.com

I wonder how much of a factor would be post-Jan.6 embarrassment at being connected with the GOP.

 

[annabenedetti]

Arizona's largest newspaper sues Cyber Ninjas, state senate over controversial 2020 election 'audit'​

The largest newspaper in Arizona announced Thursday that it has filed lawsuit to obtain financial records and communications from the Republican-led state Senate and Cyber Ninjas, the private firm that has overseen a highly irregular recount of the 2020 election in Maricopa County.

"Arizona law entitles the public to know how this audit is being conducted and funded," David Bodney, an attorney for The Arizona Republic, said in a statement.

In a June 30 complaint, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the newspaper argues that it is entitled to the records under the state's public records law. The lawsuit comes after the parties denied a request to hand the documents over voluntarily.

 

[marke]

Arizona's largest newspaper sues Cyber Ninjas, state senate over controversial 2020 election 'audit'​

The largest newspaper in Arizona announced Thursday that it has filed lawsuit to obtain financial records and communications from the Republican-led state Senate and Cyber Ninjas, the private firm that has overseen a highly irregular recount of the 2020 election in Maricopa County.

"Arizona law entitles the public to know how this audit is being conducted and funded," David Bodney, an attorney for The Arizona Republic, said in a statement.

In a June 30 complaint, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the newspaper argues that it is entitled to the records under the state's public records law. The lawsuit comes after the parties denied a request to hand the documents over voluntarily.

While democrats seek republican records they hope to use against them, other released records prove democrats knew on Nov 3 that their voting machines had been compromised and hid that fact from the public. This info was posted by Jefferson today:

Attorney Matt DePerno: A Security Breach of Election Registration Servers in Arizona Occurred on Nov. 3 - Sec of State Hobbs Knew About It But Kept It Hidden | The Gateway Pundit | by Joe Hoft

(Above picture is of Election Auditors paid for by the County in the server room in Maricopa County.) Attorney Matt DePerno reported this morning on the Bannon War Room that there was a security breach of the registration servers in Arizona on November 3, 2020. The corrupt Secretary of State...

www.thegatewaypundit.com

Some big news dropped this morning regarding the security of the election in 2020 in Arizona. According to Attorney Matt DePerno, there was a security breach of the registration servers in Arizona on November 3, 2020 (Election Day). This breach was known by Secretary Katie Hobbs but to date, she kept it from the public. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors also knew about this but kept it hidden.

 

[annabenedetti]

'Cyber Ninjas.' What an embarrassment.

Former Arizona AG Slams Cyber Ninjas 'Grift' In Botched Vote Audit​

A former Arizona Republican attorney general attacked the Cyber Ninjas company on Saturday for engineering a vote audit “grift” in the state.

The partisan company, hired by the state’s Republican-run Senate, has confirmed that Joe Biden won the presidential election — exactly as state officials determined after a number of recounts shortly after the vote. But Donald Trump continues to rail against what he called the “fake news” reports of the findings.

Former AG Grant Woods said on CNN that he was surprised how “100% incompetent the operation” by the inexperienced company was. But he’s convinced doing a competent job was never really the point.

“They’re in it for the money,” he said. “It is a grift. There’s a lot of grifters we have been exposed to. I was attorney general for years. I dealt with grifters every day. This is how they act.”

 

[Arthur Brain]

'Cyber Ninjas.' What an embarrassment.

Former Arizona AG Slams Cyber Ninjas 'Grift' In Botched Vote Audit​

A former Arizona Republican attorney general attacked the Cyber Ninjas company on Saturday for engineering a vote audit “grift” in the state.

The partisan company, hired by the state’s Republican-run Senate, has confirmed that Joe Biden won the presidential election — exactly as state officials determined after a number of recounts shortly after the vote. But Donald Trump continues to rail against what he called the “fake news” reports of the findings.

Former AG Grant Woods said on CNN that he was surprised how “100% incompetent the operation” by the inexperienced company was. But he’s convinced doing a competent job was never really the point.

“They’re in it for the money,” he said. “It is a grift. There’s a lot of grifters we have been exposed to. I was attorney general for years. I dealt with grifters every day. This is how they act.”

An embarrassment indeed. Won't stop some here from crying "Fraud!" til the proverbial cows come home or even if they don't and keep to better pastures...

 

[marke]

'Cyber Ninjas.' What an embarrassment.

Former Arizona AG Slams Cyber Ninjas 'Grift' In Botched Vote Audit​

A former Arizona Republican attorney general attacked the Cyber Ninjas company on Saturday for engineering a vote audit “grift” in the state.

The partisan company, hired by the state’s Republican-run Senate, has confirmed that Joe Biden won the presidential election — exactly as state officials determined after a number of recounts shortly after the vote. But Donald Trump continues to rail against what he called the “fake news” reports of the findings.

Former AG Grant Woods said on CNN that he was surprised how “100% incompetent the operation” by the inexperienced company was. But he’s convinced doing a competent job was never really the point.

“They’re in it for the money,” he said. “It is a grift. There’s a lot of grifters we have been exposed to. I was attorney general for years. I dealt with grifters every day. This is how they act.”

In spite of all the leftist democrat hype and propaganda, democrats never proved tens of thousands of ballots without the required proof of legitimacy were actually legitimate. And democrats never allowed investigators to examine the democrat Dominion machines to verify they were not tampered with.

 

[marke]

An embarrassment indeed. Won't stop some here from crying "Fraud!" til the proverbial cows come home or even if they don't and keep to better pastures...

What democrat rubes do not realize is that all Americans want is for elections officials to help investigators with their efforts to prove every allegation of fraud is invalid, but that is not what the democrats have been doing. Officials can claim the results are validated but that does not mean the democrats have helped prove to the voters that the elections were not corrupted. That kind of proof requires all parties to aid with the investigations into every allegation of voter fraud by allowing access to all the data and records. Democrats have been fighting like hell to keep investigators from examining those areas that must be examined if proof of legitimacy is ever to be validated.

 

[User Name]

What democrat rubes do not realize is that all Americans want is for elections officials to help investigators with their efforts to prove every allegation of fraud is invalid

Idaho’s Republican Secretary of State Lawerence Denney has thoroughly debunked MyPillow guy Mike Lindell’s latest election-fraud lies, saying that most of them collapsed after the most simple investigation. In a document titled “The Big Lie,” Lindell claimed that votes for Donald Trump had been switched electronically to those for Joe Biden in all 44 of Idaho’s counties. However, at least seven counties have no electronic steps in their vote-counting processes. “That was a huge red flag,” Chief Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck said.