Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes Investigation Trump Electors Scheme Full view TUCSON, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 07: Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs (R) looks on as Kris Mayes (L), Democratic candidate for Arizona Attorney General, speaks at a press conference calling for abortion rights outside the Evo A. DeConcini U.S. Courthouse on October 7, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. Hobbs discussed Arizona’s near-total abortion ban, which dates back to 1864, and her aim to restore abortion rights in the state. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) revealed the ninth and latest lawsuit against the Trump administration for its “chaotic” and “reckless” cuts to government programs.
“I also think these are strong words, and I understand that, but I believe that we are in the middle of a coup, an attempted coup on our country,” Mayes said during a town hall she held with Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Arizona) in Mesa, Arizona. “And I believe that because I have filed nine lawsuits on several occasions [against] the Trump administration and Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire, has attempted to defy federal court orders that we want in those cases, and to me, that is an attempted coup on our democracy.
“So we are working hard in our office, and you know, this is about protecting our state, and this is about preventing things like slashing jobs, gutting essential services, leaving communities scrambling to pick up the pieces.
“None of that is what they claim it to be efficiency. None of that is efficiency; it’s destruction. That’s what it is. True efficiency comes from careful planning, collaboration, and respect for the law, not from haphazard cuts and mass firings abruptly destroying lives, pure and simple.
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“What is going on right now is reckless, chaotic and illegal.
“We are hearing daily examples of indiscriminate firings and the destructive purging of federal health and safety services. Again, that is why I’m fighting in court to stop [President Donald Trump] and Musk’s illegal power grab and unconstitutional attempts to steal from all of you.”
The Arizona attorney general then presented the nine lawsuits filed since Trump took office again, which include an attempt to end birthright citizenship, guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, an effort to block a freeze on federal funding and a suit to stop cuts to the National Institutes of Health and university research grants.
“Eight out of nine of these lawsuits that the Democratic AGs have filed, we have won what is called a temporary restraining order, a TRO,” she mentioned. “What it means is a judge is saying that it’s highly likely we are going to succeed on the merits of these cases, and it’s a federal judge putting an immediate stop and halt to what Trump is doing.”
In 2020, Trump conducted a fake elector scheme designed to alter the results of that year’s presidential election. Mayes promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the efforts, which took place in Arizona, where “alternate” electors signed paperwork claiming Trump had won the state.
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