Hack Job: AZ State Officials Claim Election Audit Victory Without Shred of Evidence

Buzzfeed: “…[Rep.] Finchem’s statements reflect a grasping at straws as the Arizona audit and efforts to copy that model in other states have yet to result in anything”  

Accountable.US: “Ethically-challenged politicians like Mark Finchem are so desperate to keep Trump’s Big Lie alive that they’re willing to pile on new lies to try to save face”

Washington, D.C. — While the ‘results’ of the sham, scandal-ridden ‘audit’ of the 2020 Election in Maricopa County, AZ have yet to be released, Trump-backed state level officials, including Representative Mark Finchem, are already declaring ‘victory’ for the twice-impeached former president, Buzzfeed reports.    

“Ethically-challenged politicians like Mark Finchem are so desperate to keep Trump’s Big Lie alive that they’re willing to pile on new lies to try to save face,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “Their goal is clear: keep spreading unhinged conspiracy theories to justify unfair and racist new barriers that threaten  Arizonans’ right to vote. Rather than examine why voters rejected Trump and his extreme policies, they’d prefer to disregard the will of the people altogether. It’s clear that no amount of evidence that the election was fair will satisfy those who are acting in bad faith, and given the opportunity, they will do everything in their power to rig future elections in their favor.” 

This is not the first time Finchem has demonstrated his willingness to lie to the people of Arizona: despite claiming he didn’t get within 500 yards of the Capitol, video footage shows Finchem at the Capitol’s east steps after the building had been breached on January 6. Finchem discussed the events of January 6 on his personal newsletter, claiming “ANTIFA infiltrators” were responsible for the violence and had been identified by “facial recognition.” Finchem self-identified as a member of the Oath Keepers, classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government extremist group. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Finchem also made extreme criticisms of potential “mandatory mask and vaccines” requirements, including comparisons to violations of the Nuremberg Code, and expressed skepticism of COVID-19 vaccinations, calling them “experimental, potentially deadly gene therapy” saying he was “not one of the lab rats.” 

Government watchdog Accountable.US recently released a report revealing Finchem and other Southwestern politicians’ top corporate donors that continue to fund their political campaigns despite questionable track records. Read the full report here. 

Read more from Buzzfeed here. 

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