By Staff Reporter |
Members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are publicly airing their grievances against Recorder Justin Heap for notifying federal authorities about election work that took place late one night last week.
Heap’s office immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after learning about a viral post about ballot tabulation center livestream footage in which two county employees were seen working alone after-hours in the facility from about 9 to 11 p.m. on October 7.
In the footage, the employees can be seen inserting flash drives into computers.
The FBI confirmed it investigated Heap’s complaint and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
A week later, on Wednesday, Board Chair Kate Brophy McGee and Vice Chair Debbie Lesko responded to the viral footage with a joint statement denying that the election workers had performed unauthorized work, and said that it wasn’t unusual for employees to work outside traditional business hours in the weeks preceding and following an election.
McGee and Lesko explained that the employees updated software on the ballot duplication system and uploaded election data files to a computer terminal not connected to the internet or ballot tabulation equipment.
After issuing that statement, Brophy McGee spoke with media outlets to criticize Heap for contacting federal authorities.
“Public employees who work in elections already face public threats and intimidation, but it is disgusting that Recorder Heap and his team would add to this climate of fear by referring to the FBI our hardworking county employees who were simply doing their jobs,” said Brophy McGee.
Judy Keane, Heap’s spokeswoman, said the recorder has a duty to request an investigation into any suspicious activity involving elections.
“Suspicious activity occurring within logic and accuracy tested facilities late at night should always be investigated by those with the power to do so. Any notion that it shouldn’t is irresponsible and fails to maintain the highest of standards for Arizona elections,” said Keane.
Supervisor Thomas Galvin called Heap “inept” for notifying authorities of his concerns, and accused him of being a “puppet” of Shelby Busch, the local grassroots activist with We the People AZ who contacted Heap’s office with concerns about the livestream footage. Lesko accused the recorder’s office of attacking “innocent election workers.” Galvin also implied there would be repercussions for those who assisted Heap with contacting the FBI.
“Heap worked w[ith] bad grifting hombres to target one of the BOS’ employees. If any other public official enabled Heap’s latest circus act then there’s Hell to pay,” said Galvin.
Sam Stone, Heap’s chief of staff, later posted on X to reveal that he called the FBI and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office about the after-hours work. Stone said that it was important for public trust in elections to seek an assessment from an official third party, rather than insisting the public rely on the county’s word.
“Did I think anything nefarious was at play in this situation? No,” said Stone. “[But] when questions about potentially fraudulent activity in an election come to light the proper reaction is not for the organization at hand to clear themselves, but to bring in an appropriate outside investigative agency to do it.”
Galvin called Stone “one of the amoral amoebas” within Heap’s office and accused him of “spinning [his] latest stunt.” Stone, in return, accused Galvin of lying.
“[Y]our ‘proof’ there was no wrongdoing in this case is the word of the same team that created the controversy,” said Stone. “You are a crap lawyer, a liar, and unfit for public office.”
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