For Immediate Release
Monday, April 11, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Under Pressure From Trump,” Brnovich “Decided to Use His Elected Office Almost Exclusively to Promote His Campaign” 
“Is Brnovich’s report enough to win Trump’s support over his GOP rivals in the race?”
PHOENIX — Last week in Arizona, Mark Brnovich caved to political pressure from his Senate primary opponents and former president Donald Trump and released an “interim report” of his investigation into Arizona’s 2020 election. In the wake of his report, Brnovich was swept up in a nasty news cycle and called out for the blatant politicization of his official office in an effort to nab Trump’s support and advance his Senate bid in the wide-open primary.

See below for a roundup of the coverage:

Associated Press: Arizona AG letter offers no proof of 2020 election fraud

• Brnovich is courting Trump’s endorsement for his Senate run, which would give him a significant boost in a field with no clear Republican frontrunner to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

Arizona Republic: Finally, Arizona’s election fraud has been found!

• The only truly serious vulnerability here is Brnovich’s Senate campaign prospects, which is why I suspect that the attorney general who in 2020 had no problem with Arizona’s election now suddenly … does.

Arizona Republic: Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s election fraud investigation turns up bupkis

• But, that was Brnovich when he still was acting like an actual attorney general and before he decided to use his elected office almost exclusively to promote his campaign for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Arizona Mirror: Brnovich discloses ‘interim’ findings of civil election probe, angering some Republicans

• Under pressure from Trump, the AG announced the status of an investigation that could take many more months to conclude.
• Brnovich has been the target of Trump’s ire since shortly after the 2020 election, when the AG told Fox Business that there was no fraud in the Arizona election. When Brnovich entered the field for U.S. Senate, Trump took aim at Brnovich, calling him “lackluster” for failing to declare the election “stolen.”

Arizona Republic: Will Trump endorse Mark Brnovich after report detailing ‘questions’ about 2020 election?

• Apart from its legislative recommendations and inference of potential criminal prosecutions to come, a more basic political question hangs over the state’s top law enforcement officer who is running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate: Is Brnovich’s report enough to win Trump’s support over his GOP rivals in the race?
• Around the country and in Arizona, Trump is endorsing candidates willing to echo the falsehoods, elevating their standing with a conservative GOP base that wants to undo Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden by decertifying the results, making arrests or indicting people they deem bad actors.

MSNBC: Arizona AG fails to produce the election evidence Trump demanded

• To be sure, Brnovich couldn’t come right out and say, “The conspiracy theories are baseless,” because then his Senate candidacy would be doomed.

Jim Small, Arizona Mirror: 

Dillon Rosenblatt, KJZZ: 

Tim Steller, Arizona Daily Star:

Garrett Archer, ABC Phoenix: 

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