In the days after the 2020 election, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich did something most Republican leaders across the nation didn’t have the courage to do: He publicly refuted Donald Trump’s election lies.
On Nov. 12, 2020, the former federal prosecutor appeared on Fox Business and stated that his office had investigated complaints in connection with Arizona’s election, which had already been called for Joe Biden. “There is no evidence,” Brnovich declared. “There are no facts that would lead anyone to believe that the election results will change.” At the time, The Washington Post noted Brnovich was “the first high-ranking Republican in Arizona to reject the president’s fraud claims in the state.”
Facts apparently don’t matter when you are trying to suck up to Trump — all that matters is blind loyalty.
Sadly, Brnovich’s bravery didn’t last. Documents first shared with the Post by Arizona’s new Attorney General, Kris Mayes, show Brnovich trafficked in election misinformation to help himself politically and hid findings that disproved claims of fraud. It was a glaring example of the corrupting influence that comes with wooing Donald Trump and the supporters who believe his lies.
Brnovich’s flip-flop did not come about overnight. According to Brnovich himself, Trump told him after the 2020 election, “All you gotta do is say the election’s fraudulent, and you will be a superstar,” but the attorney general refused. In late November 2020, he appeared with then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Gov. Doug Ducey to sign the certification of Arizona’s election results declaring Biden the winner.
That should’ve been Brnovich’s legacy: a patriotic public servant who stood up to Trump’s lies and defended our democracy. But that all changed the following year, after Brnovich decided to seek the 2022 GOP nomination against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. To win the Republican primary, Brnovich needed the support of Trump, who had
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