Audit Foe Ugenti-Rita’s Claims Brings Attention To Bipartisan Threats

Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita serving as chair of the Commerce Committee in 2019.

The tweet from Republican State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita that she had received a threatening and racist email has reignited attention to the heated and sometimes threatening rhetoric surrounding the Arizona Senate’s Audit of the Maricopa County 2020 General Election.

“You are a completely worthless human being and an evil slut. And you will die very soon. It will look like an accident. I’ve done this before. I have killed people. I will kill again. I will kill you. Sleep well,” one anonymous hater wrote Sen. President Karen Fann earlier this year.

That was just one example of the kind of threats lawmakers and others involved in the 2020 Election process and the Senate’s audit have received since before it began in March of this year.

The ugliness reared its head again last week and caught the attention of the media, when Ugenti-Rita opted to share her recent threat on Twitter. Ugenti-Rita, who once supported the audit before flip-flopping and opposing it, received a message on Friday from someone identifying themselves as “Matt Boster:”

“Listen up you s— bitch, you have one chance to give the American people the Audit report or were (sic) coming from you, we know where you live, we know where you get groceries, and we know where your family lives. You better do the right thing or your (sic) going to feel the consequences. Do you understand?

We the people are no longer willing to play…..

“Got this yesterday,” wrote Ugenti-Rita. “It’s been sent to law enforcement. My family’s safety is my #1 priority & I will NOT tolerate anyone going after me or my family. Due to misinformation & the unmet expectations of the public surrounding the audit, threats like this will unfortunately continue.”

President Fann immediately issued a statement on behalf of the Senate condemning the attack and others like it:

“No matter where a person stands on the audit of the 2020 vote in Maricopa County, any other matter of public policy, making a threat to a legislator, or their family is completely unacceptable. I understand passions run by on the issue of voter integrity, but the personal attacks and threats of violence cross the line. It is not a partisan issue; party affiliation doesn’t matter when it comes to personal safety. Members of the Legislature receiving threats will report any acts of intimidations or aggression to the authorities. Differences of opinion should not lead to a breakdown in civility. I will always follow through on my commitment to ensure the safety of our Members and their families.”

Fann’s statement was inexplicably criticized by Julia Shumway, a former journalist with the Arizona Capitol Times. “This vague statement was spurred by an audit supporter sending racist and sexist slurs to a Republican senator who opposes the audit and then threatening her children. But because it’s so vague, most of the responses are from people convinced the audit supporters face threats,” complained Shumway.

As noted previously, Fann herself has received multiple threats, some of which are too graphic to publish.

Senate Liaison and former Secretary of State Ken Bennett reported a threat to the audit’s security team which then turned it over to law enforcement. The current Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs, has received several threats as well.

It is not only politicians who have been threatened. A lawyer associated with voter integrity issues, Christopher Alfredo Viskovic, of the Kolodin Law Group, received a death threat:

“I’m not sure if you were unscrupulous enough to actively participate in the process that resulted in Judge Coury recusing himself, or if that you were a pathetic dupe that was used by the people cleverer than you. Either way, your colleagues will remain in the shadows, while you are in the spotlight.

A dangerous place to find yourself. Sooner or later, and it will end very badly for you and quite probably violently and permanently so.

Alexander Kolodin, Chris Viskovic’s managing partner, told the Arizona Daily Independent, “Some in our society are so blinded by their politics that they view the other side as not just wrong, but undeserving of representation. However, Lawyers take an oath to ‘never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed[.]’ If the anonymous coward who sent us this threat wishes to understand how seriously we take this oath, he is welcome to visit us and compare his marksmanship skills with ours.”

“Mr. Logan gets them almost daily,” Rod Thomson, spokesman for Cyber Ninjas’ CEO Doug Logan told the Arizona daily independent. “He deletes them but due to the nature of the threats,  Mr. Logan has had to hire a security detail to protect his family.”

“Even I’ve had a few, after Rachel Maddow trashed me in her show,” said Thomson. ”These are the days we live in.”

Ugenti-Rita, who’s running for Secretary of State, changed her position on the audit a few hours after she was booed off the stage at Turning Point Action’s “Rally to Protect Our Elections!” event in late July.

Prior to the event, Ugenti-Rita said she was looking forward to speaking before thousands of Trump supporters who were rallying to support election integrity efforts — including the high-profile audit of the 2020 Maricopa County election results.

However, after being booed from the stage by a crowd that was still upset at her for votes against election integrity efforts and bills to rein in the Governor’s executive powers, Ugenti-Rita had a change of heart, attacking the audit as “the Trump audit” among other things.

According to sources, the preliminary audit results should be delivered to the Senate sometime this week. The results have been delayed several times, according to auditors, due to illness.

Once the audit is turned over, it will be reviewed by a team headed up and selected by Fann that will include Bennett and other election experts.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ugenti-Rita Flips On Election Audit, Now Opposes It

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