Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap is accusing the County Board of Supervisors and County Attorney Rachel Mitchell of weaponizing county government against him “simply because he dared to fulfill his statutory duties and protect the sanctity of Arizona elections.
Recorder Heap made the accusation while announcing that attorneys with America First Legal (AFL) have filed two legal motions on his behalf, which they say exposes “a breathtaking abuse of power by entrenched government officials determined to sabotage election integrity efforts.”
AFL’s motions, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, claim that the County Board of Supervisors and County Attorney Rachel Mitchell “coordinated retaliation against Recorder Heap that seem to confirm everyone’s worst suspicions about Maricopa County’s elections.”
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Steve Montenegro filed an Amicus Brief in support of Heap.
According to AFL, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have launched what Heap and his attorneys say “appears to be a deliberate sabotage campaign against the Recorder’s office.”
Just before Heap came into office, the Board seized control of the Recorder’s Office servers, databases, and websites. Heap and his lawyers claim that taking control of these items, essential for conducting elections, amount to “effectively holding the county’s election infrastructure hostage.”
The Recorder also claims that the Board also removed nearly all election-related IT staff from the Recorder’s office, which left him “unable to perform basic election duties. On top of this, the County’s IT department has failed to fulfill nearly half of all IT support requests from the Recorder’s Office — crippling election operations.”
Heap also complained that in spite of good-faith attempts to negotiate a resolution, including an offer of mediation, the Board refused to negotiate a reasonable outcome that complies with Arizona law, creating a serious risk of catastrophic election failure and massive voter disenfranchisement.
Heap’s attorneys argue that Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell had a ethical conflict of interest requiring her to remain neutral and stay entirely out of the dispute because this controversy involved a dispute between different elected officials within the County, both of whom are her clients.
Mitchell did not stay neutral however, and when she assigned an outside attorney to represent Heap in discussions with the Board, she only allowed that attorney to negotiate with the Board but not to file any lawsuits against it.
In other words, argue Heap’s attorneys, the County Attorney tried to “force Recorder Heap to negotiate from a position of weakness, without an attorney who could sue on his behalf. Unsurprisingly, the Board took advantage, continually refusing to deal fairly with the Recorder and obstinately refusing to restore to Recorder Heap the basic resources he needed to do his job.”
AFL attorneys are providing their services for free.
“Astoundingly, County Attorney Mitchell appears to have taken sides in the dispute, actively working to help the Board fight Recorder Heap’s efforts at election integrity. It even appears that County Attorney Mitchell and the Board have been actively coordinating against Recorder Heap, even though Mitchell has a conflict of interest that requires she remain neutral and entirely uninvolved. Indeed, less than two weeks after AFL filed Recorder Heap’s lawsuit against the Board, County Attorney Mitchell committed what can only be described as the ultimate betrayal of her own client by filing her own lawsuit against Recorder Heap,” said Heap’s attorneys in the announcement of the lawsuit.
Mitchell is asking the Court to issue an order forbidding AFL from representing Recorder Heap and giving her the power to control who represents Heap in his lawsuit against the Board. Even though there is no statute or court decision that says so, she continues to make the unfounded claim that, when there is a conflict of interest preventing her from representing Recorder Heap, she has the absolute power to force Recorder Heap to use whatever lawyers she chooses for him.
More than 60 percent of Arizona’s population lives in Maricopa County, and the stakes could not be higher for the integrity of Arizona’s elections. The Recorder’s Office is largely at the complete mercy of the Board and there are questions about its ability to properly administer elections or clean up voter rolls. Most alarming of all, essential election websites, systems, and servers remain under the control of officials who appear to be hostile to voters’ desires for more integrity and transparency in the County’s elections.
“What we’re witnessing is nothing short of a coordinated assault on the lawful conduct of elections,” said James Rogers, Senior Counsel at America First Legal. “Government officials should not be able to weaponize their offices against those who dare to stand for election integrity. The Board of Supervisors has deliberately defunded the Recorder’s office, stripped away his essential resources, and actively opposed basic election integrity measures. Their reckless actions have put Maricopa County’s elections at serious risk of catastrophic failure. The Board seems more interested in political retribution than protecting Arizona voters. Even worse, County Attorney Mitchell’s disturbing attempt to prevent Recorder Heap from having competent representation to pursue his lawsuit is shocking. Recorder Heap has every right to independent counsel, especially when his own county attorney has turned herself into his adversary. We will fight this shocking overreach with everything we have. America First Legal Foundation is once again proving why it stands as the nation’s premier defender of election integrity and constitutional rights. We will continue to charge directly into battle against corruption and abuse of power, no matter how powerful the opponents or how steep the odds. The enemies of election integrity will find that AFL never backs down, never compromises on principle, and never stops fighting for what’s right.”
“It’s unfortunate that the Board’s unprofessional and bad faith actions have forced us to litigate this issue; however, it’s significantly more unfortunate that the Board continues to deny the voters of Maricopa County the positive, common sense election integrity reforms that they voted for last November when they elected me,” said Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap. “As I’ve promised from day one, I am working to ensure honest, secure, and transparent elections for every voter in Maricopa County. I am not, and will not, waver in my commitment to executing on this promise. I’m grateful to America First Legal for standing by my side in this battle.”
It’s like a RINO sanctuary in Maricopa County! Next election we need to vote all of them out and get some actual conservatives who care about the people. The MCBOS is a total disgrace and complete train wreck of traitors.
The contempt the BOS and Mitchell have for (Heap and) Arizonans couldn’t be clearer.
Republicans already knew that Rachael Mitchell was a RINO prior to the 2022 primaries and yet still voted for her. Gina Godbehere, Mitchell’s primary opponent, would now be assisting Justin Heap rather then hogtieing the recorder from doing his job. Nothing good can come from our County Attorney fornicating in the same bed with a corrupt BOS. This is a problem that Republican voters brought onto themselves.
This is what happens when lawlessness is tolerated too long and governmental structure is not kept simple. One thing is clear, the voters have no voice. Votes do not matter anymore. Voting results announced worth nothing, do not reflect reality. AZ and Maricopa are not just laughing stocks of the nation, they are a real shame.
On the issue of “disenfranchising voters” let us discuss legitimate voters. Arizona Counties have carelessly ignored Voter Rolls packed with illegitimate voters. Let’s return to verifying Voter identification, in person voting on paper ballots that are tabulated on Election Day.
Eh tu, Rachel?
When Fontes was the Maricopa County Recorder he did whatever the heck he wanted! Didn’t even care when it was against the law and he got reprimanded. We need the dirty laundry to get aired out.I’m tired of being the laughing stock of the country and I’m tired of the blatant hypocrisy.
Wow. Arizonas elections are absolute trash.
Call the DOJ.
Charge Hobbs and Fontes with treason .
And the beat goes on……
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Steve Montenegro taking Heap’s side is interesting, is time up for Maricopa powers that be?