U.S. Attorney: Mayes, Fontes Statements Raise Obstruction, Witness Tampering Concerns
By Matthew Holloway |
U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said statements by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes regarding a federal election investigation raise “valid concerns of obstruction of justice and witness tampering” in response to a referral from Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen.
In a letter dated April 14, Courchaine wrote that he had received Petersen’s correspondence and shared the Senate president’s desire “to work together across all levels of government to ensure fair and free elections.” Courchaine added that his office was “carefully reviewing the facts” surrounding communications from Mayes and Fontes regarding the investigation.
Courchaine wrote that statements from the attorney general and secretary of state “undermine the federal grand jury’s constitutionally enshrined right to investigate violations of federal law or ensure no such crime occurred.” He said the federal investigation is aimed at confirming that “only lawful citizens are registered and voting in federal elections” after state election officials disclosed registration errors that predated the 2024 election. Courchaine also wrote that the actions of the two state officials “raise valid concerns of obstruction of justice and witness tampering under Title 18 of the United States Code.”
Petersen first referred Mayes and Fontes to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on April 7, alleging that both officials attempted to interfere with a federal grand jury investigation tied to election records from the Arizona Senate’s 2021 review. Petersen accused the officials of obstruction of justice and witness tampering after they warned county election officials against complying with federal requests for election records.
According to Petersen’s referral letter, the Arizona Senate complied with a federal grand jury subpoena served by the FBI in March seeking records related to the 2020 election. Petersen said the Senate produced the records after obtaining a legal opinion from the law firm Snell & Wilmer, concluding that compliance with the subpoena was required under federal law. The legal opinion stated that refusing to comply with the subpoena could have exposed the Senate and state officials to sanctions and that attempts to interfere with compliance could potentially constitute obstruction of justice.
The Snell & Wilmer opinion cited by Petersen argued that federal grand jury subpoenas carry broad investigative authority and supersede conflicting state privacy laws under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The opinion also stated that state laws cited by Mayes and Fontes did not excuse noncompliance with a federal subpoena and that federal courts have routinely compelled compliance despite state confidentiality statutes.
Petersen has argued that a March joint letter sent by Mayes and Fontes to county recorders, warning that compliance with certain federal requests could violate state and federal law, amounted to an attempt to interfere with the federal investigation. In those letters, the attorney general and the secretary of state advised county officials that disclosing certain voter registration records could be illegal under privacy protections in Arizona law.
Mayes previously responded to Petersen’s referral in a written statement, statingthat he “inexplicably remains an election denier six years later.”
Petersen is running in the Republican primary for Arizona Attorney General and, if nominated, would face Mayes in the 2026 General Election.
A Gray House poll of 400 likely Republican voters and 450 likely general election voters found that a majority of those polled for the primary are undecided, with Petersen leading at 15%, but when the sample group was briefed on candidate backgrounds, Petersen becomes the clear leader at 57% compared to single-digits for other GOP contenders.
In the general election, Petersen trails Mayes by just 2 points at 42% to 44%, bringing the race well within the poll’s 4.6% margin of error.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.