Who Is Sonny Borrelli?

             My VIP for this week is Arizona Senate Majority Whip Sonny Borrelli. After the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors refused to comply with a subpoena from the Senate leadership, Borrelli made an official request for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate. Randy DeSoto explained the background for the subpoena. 

The subpoena issued by Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Arizona Senate Judiciary Chairman Warren Peterson last week sought information and access regarding six matters, including access to the election routers as well as “user names, passwords, pins and/or security keys or tokens required to access, or otherwise relating to, any and all ballot tabulation devices used in connection with the November 3, 2020, general election.”

Maricopa County used Dominion Voting Systems’ ballot tabulation devices.

Access to the routers and tabulation device passwords were both listed in the original subpoena issued in December and reissued in January, but Maricopa County and Dominion have not complied.

            In refusing to comply with the subpoena, Maricopa County and Dominion are in non-compliance with a court order. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason ruled in February that the Arizona Senate has “broad constitutional power” giving them authority to subpoena election-related materials, which includes the items listed in the subpoena. The latest subpoena from Fann and Petersen dated July 26 set a deadline of Monday, August 2, at 1 p.m. Neither Maricopa County nor Dominion complied with the subpoena. Borelli gave the following reasons for making his request to Brnovich to investigate.

The supervisors are acting as if they are above the law, and it is an insult to the citizens of our state….

Yesterday the Board of Supervisors ignored the subpoena deadline and failed to provide the routers used in the November election…. They failed to provide passwords and security keys required to access tabulation devices. They failed to provide splunk logs and similar data.

The level of disrespect and contempt from the supervisors toward Senate leadership and Arizona voters is appalling.

            DeSoto explained the importance of the splunk logs. They “show the activity through the routers and would be a means to determine if anything abnormal happened regarding the vote tabulators and other equipment on or around Election Day.” He quoted Auditor Ben Cotton testified at a hearing on July 15 that “access to the routers is the most important item he needs to complete the audit.”

            Borrelli’s request to Brnovich is to investigate why Maricopa County is refusing to give access to the routers, voting machines passwords, and splunk logs. There is no requirement for Brnovich to do the investigation, but he could answer numerous questions if he does investigate.