Earlier this year, Republican legislators in Arizona forced a partisan "audit" of Maricopa County's ballots in the 2020 election, giving further credence to former President Donald Trump's lies that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him by Democrats engaging in widespread election fraud.
For months, the so-called audit was marred by conspiracy theories and shady behavior. The firm overseeing the audit, Cyber Ninjas, had never worked on an election before and had expressed support for Trump's election delusions in the past. One of the audit's workers claimed they were searching for bamboo fibers in ballots, based on fantasies that fake ballots were somehow flown in from Asia.
The audit was funded by conservatives and at least one participant in the deadly January 6 insurrection was seen counting ballots.
After months of delays, the audit's report was finally released, further reinforcing now-President Biden's 2020 win in the county—ten months after he won it the first time.
Now, a Republican former Attorney General for Arizona, Grant Woods, is calling the audit a "grift."
Watch below.
'It's a grift': Former Republican Arizona AG blows the lid off the Cyber Ninjas 'audit' scamwww.youtube.com
In an interview with CNN, Woods said of the audit:
"They're in it for the money. It is a grift. There's a lot of grifters we have been exposed to. I was attorney general for years. I dealt with grifters every day. This is how they act."
Others agreed with the former Attorney General's assessment.
Yup! 100%. Now admit\u2026 You lost! And move on\u2026https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-cyber-ninjas-grift-grant-woods-biden-victory-anomalies_n_614fa787e4b03dd7280ba7e6\u00a0\u2026— Vaccinated\u2026 Jon Brooks (@Vaccinated\u2026 Jon Brooks) 1632744488
Nobody won except the Cyber Ninjas CEO. \n\nAnd Joe Biden. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-cyber-ninjas-grift-grant-woods-biden-victory-anomalies_n_614fa787e4b03dd7280ba7e6\u00a0\u2026— Darcy (@Darcy) 1632747039
Biggest Grift in American history continues...— Notsobad (@Notsobad) 1632511623
Exactly. Trump saw American politics for exactly what they\u2019ve become. A money game, a grift. He just played it as he saw it.— Mark Fearing (@Mark Fearing) 1632512220
Republicans seem particularly vulnerable to grifters of all forms.— MrMark (@MrMark) 1632510930
Uh, @GrantWoods, you're a rare breed and I hope the Dems will put you on the protected endangered list.— Pravoye Krylo Nakhodyatsya Predateli (@Pravoye Krylo Nakhodyatsya Predateli) 1632511502
People weren't surprised at the sham.
"It's a GRIFT".\nYou don't say.https://www.rawstory.com/arizona-audit-results-2655170366/\u00a0\u2026— Michelle Jones (@Michelle Jones) 1632515707
in more \u201c we\u2019ll, duh!\u201d news...\n\u201cIt is a grift. There\u2019s a lot of grifters we have been exposed to. I was attorney general for years. I dealt with grifters every day," said Grant Woods. "This is how they act.\u201d https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-cyber-ninjas-grift-grant-woods-biden-victory-anomalies_n_614fa787e4b03dd7280ba7e6?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004\u00a0\u2026 via @HuffPostPol— Gwyn- Inmeasententia: "With all due respect..." (@Gwyn- Inmeasententia: "With all due respect...") 1632754198
You don\u2019t say!— Suparna (@Suparna) 1632617522
Nevertheless, similar audits are already emerging in other Republican-led swing states.