Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, elected county officials in Cochise County, Arizona, refused to certify 2022's election results after Democrats defeated their preferred candidate—a refusal that included defying a court order to do so and various delaying tactics. The two Republicans have now been charged with felony conspiracy and interfering with an election officer after a grand jury there found crimes to answer for.
The indictment was filed Monday in Maricopa County's Superior Court. Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat: "The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable. I took an oath to uphold the rule of law, and my office will continue to enforce Arizona's elections laws and support our election officials as they carry out the duties and responsibilities of their offices."
Crosby has been crowdfunding for his legal defense on a rightwing platform after he received a subpoena for the grand jury, calling himself "an elections integrity proponent since before it became popular" and saying that a legal case against him "will intimidate other AZ county supervisors into falling in line with the globalist plans of compromised elections, and forced use of voting machines".
The resulting legal costs for Cochise county have "mounted to the hundreds of thousands" of dollars.
GOP officials looting local government is a variable. The pivot to grifting is a constant.
