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- Donald Trump and his allies could face a criminal investigation in Arizona.
- Arizona's Secretary of State asked the state Attorney General to investigate Trump allies for violating election laws.
- Arizona GOP Chair and Trump backer Kelli Ward told Maricopa officials "we need you to stop the counting" the votes.
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Donald Trump and key allies could be facing a criminal investigation in Arizona for launching a campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Last week Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wrote to the state's Attorney General Mark Brnovich to urge him to launch a criminal investigation into Trump and his allies over the potential violations of state election laws.
Hobbs, a Democrat, made the request after reporting from The Arizona Republic revealed details of the high-pressure campaign launched by Trump and a number of his allies.
Hobbs wrote that Trump and individuals, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward, and lawyer Sidney Powell, tried to influence Maricopa officials to stop the counting of ballots.
Hobbs cited comments made by Ward towards the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, including, "We need you to stop the counting" and "I know you don't want to be remembered as the guy who led the charge to certify a fraudulent election."
On Friday, Attorney General Brnovich's office wrote to Hobbs asking for documents related to allegations of violations of election fraud, according to The Arizona Republic.
Brnovich, a Republican running for the Senate, said in the email that Hobbs had not submitted referrals for double voting.
The Arizona Republic said that the latest correspondence from Brnovich is the first public sign that he is examining records after the pressure campaign was revealed.
A spokeswoman for Hobbs told The Arizona Republic that the secretary of state was sending the required records to the Attorney General's Office on Friday.
Donald Trump has long alleged that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent, particularly in Arizona.
His claims have been widely debunked. An Associated Press investigation revealed that Arizona county election officials found only 182 possible voter fraud cases out of the three million ballots cast in the state in 2020.