Group sues Arizona Senate candidate Mark Lamb over Pinal County sheriff's documents

PHOENIX — A group of Democratic-leaning activists is suing Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb for failing to respond to multiple requests for access to public records.

Legal documents filed Wednesday in Pinal County Superior Court claim the sheriff and county ignored five separate requests from American Oversight for documents about the sheriff's communications with organizations and individuals on various issues. These include documents related to the security and integrity of the 2020 election and a June 2022 immigration reform rally in Hereford.

But attorney Jared Keenan of the American Civil Liberties Union, who represents American Oversight, said the county and Lamb, who is currently a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, also failed to provide documents related to the “constitutional sheriffs movement”. , which asserts its authority to refuse to enforce any law that a sheriff deems unjust or unconstitutional.

“American Oversight’s requests specifically target communications between Defendant Lamb and external entities that falsely claim widespread election fraud and undermine public confidence in election administration,” Keenan wrote.
What the organization also wants, he said, are recordings of Lamb attending “anti-immigrant and constitutional sheriff events.”

“The documents sought could shed light on defendant Lamb's involvement in provoking distrust in elections, promoting anti-immigration policies, and adopting policies espoused by the constitutional sheriff movement “Keenan said.

There was no immediate response from Lamb, either through his county office or his Senate campaign.

According to the lawsuit, the organization's requests date back to October 2020. To date, it says, no response has been received.

Chioma Chukwu, acting executive director of American Oversight, said there was a need to produce these documents.

“Sheriff Lamb’s ties to those who have falsely claimed widespread voter fraud are part of a disturbing trend by law enforcement closer to the election denial movement,” she said in a prepared statement. “Similarly, his participation in anti-immigration events and constitutional sheriffs reflects a disturbing level of extremism. »

Chukwu said the sheriff and county “grossly disregarded” their legal obligations under the state’s public records law.

“People have a right to know how his office operates and uses county resources,” she said.

Lauren Beall, an attorney at the ACLU, echoed that sentiment.

“Like all government officials, he is held accountable to the public under the Arizona Public Records Act and must promptly provide records when requested,” she said in her own statement.

“Instead, Sheriff Lamb repeatedly ignored the requests,” Beall continued. “Democracy is dying behind closed doors and we will not allow its lawlessness to go unchecked. »

The first batch of documents sought, those dating back to 2020, relate to any orders or directives sent by federal law enforcement to Lamb, Deputy Chief Matthew Thomas, and Bryan Harrell and Matthew Hedrick, both Deputy Chiefs. . It then searches for any orders or directives sent by any of them to sheriff's staff or volunteers regarding any “investigation, assessment, review or investigation of potential voter fraud or voter fraud.”

Another set of documents seeks information about Lamb's attendance at an “End Biden's Border Crisis” rally in Hereford in June 2021, sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, as well as related communications to this event.

There are also requests for communication with the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank that promotes a “return to limited government.”

And there is widespread demand for any communications sent by Lamb dating back to December 1, 2022, with words like “constitutional sheriffs,” “county supremacy” and various names.

American Oversight, in a press release announcing the lawsuit, said the request for information was justified.

“Lamb has become a key figure in the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs movement and its efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections,” the statement said. “The complaint targets a series of public documents that could shed light on Lamb's election denial and anti-immigration activities. »

Lamb was the first Republican to run for the U.S. Senate last year, even before incumbent Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat who had re-registered as a political independent, announced she would not run again.

His main enemy is former TV presenter Kari Lake, who is leading in the polls so far. Elizabeth Reye is also in the running.

The winner will face Rep. Ruben Gallego, the only Democrat in the running.

This isn't American Oversight's first foray into Arizona politics and issues. He was the first to release the fake election certificates produced by Republicans who claimed that Donald Trump won the popular vote in Arizona in 2020 and that they were the qualified people to vote for him in the state's 11 electoral votes .

Even before that, U.S. surveillance forced the release of documents from what was billed as an “audit” of the 2020 election ordered by then-Senate President Karen Fann.