Arizona State Senate President calls for DOJ investigation into top Arizona Democrats

Arizona State Senate President Warren Petersen (R) has asked for a federal investigation of two of the state’s top Democrats, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes, after they requested information about voter records provided in response to a subpoena. Senator Petersen asked that the two be investigated, accusing them of interfering with a federal investigation.

Senator Petersen, who is running for the GOP nomination to challenge incumbent Attorney General Mayes in November, revealed in early March 2026 that he had complied with a federal grand jury subpoena seeking all records related to a review of ballots cast by Maricopa County voters in 2020. That review affirmed Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona.

Secretary Fontes joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the investigation.

“What could have been an email has turned into a circus,” Secretary Fontes said. “In our effort to follow state law and protect Arizona’s personal identifying sensitive information, we’ve been fighting against the Department of Justice’s requests, and he just surrendered everything over. It’s got some pretty important ramifications for some people.”

Secretary Fontes explained these are protected voters, and their data is supposed to be protected from any inquiry.

“The fact that we’re challenging the notion that just this data can be sent out there,” Secretary Fontes discussed, “he’s saying that that’s interference. Well, what he’s calling interference, I call following the law, and I think he’s perfectly misguided in his assessment.”

Secretary Fontes emphasized he encouraged compliance with the law but sought clarification from the court on the subpoena, as it is a custodian of records’ duty to protect those records.

“Do we turn everything over, or just the unredacted parts? What is it exactly that we need to turn over?” Secretary Fontes said. “The fact that he’s saying that I’m interfering with something really is a deflection from the fact that he may not have followed the law himself.”

Lennea Montandon, Public Affairs Contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the office was “aware of the letter” but had no further comment.