Cyber Ninjas public records case with The Arizona Republic gets new judge, but rulings are the same
Ryan Randazzo
Cyber Ninjas asked for a new judge in the lawsuit brought by The Arizona Republic seeking records from the 2020 election review, and the company got it.
But that new judge, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Kemp, has ruled the same way in a nearly identical case: Cyber Ninjas' records are public and those who seek them should get them.
Cyber Ninjas' lawyer Jack Wilenchik last week asked for a new judge in The Republic's records case following a highly contentious hearing during which Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah imposed a $50,000 a day fine against the company and rejected Wilenchik's request to abandon his client, who he said wasn't paying him.
Wilenchik then filed a request to remove Hannah, claiming the judge was biased.
Before the court could decide whether to grant Wilenchik's request, Kemp stepped in and on Wednesday consolidated The Republic's case with a similar case filed by the left-leaning watchdog organization called American Oversight.
Both The Republic and American Oversight sued the Arizona Senate for records from the partisan and controversial election "audit" conducted at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum last year. The Republic also named Cyber Ninjas, the Senate's contractor, as a defendant, while American Oversight did not.
But Kemp, who has presided over the American Oversight case, recently "enjoined" Cyber Ninjas as a defendant in that case, and he said in a Wednesday decision that the cases are now similar enough to combine them, rendering the question of Hannah's disqualification moot. He previously denied a request by the Senate to combine the cases.
"At this point in time both cases are focused on the narrow issue of forcing (Cyber Ninjas) to comply with the court's previous orders," Kemp wrote, noting that both he and Hannah have decided the company's documents are public records that should be turned over.
"Both cases are now stalled due to (Cyber Ninjas') refusal to turn over public documents in their physical possession despite previous court orders which have been affirmed on appeal," Kemp wrote.
The Republic sued the Arizona Senate and Cyber Ninjas seeking emails, texts and other documents from the election review. The news organization was rebuffed when it requested the records under the state Public Records Law.
American Oversight also sued after not getting the records when it requested them.
Both judges, Hannah and Kemp, said the Cyber Ninjas documents are public records. But Cyber Ninjas has refused to turn over its documents, even after Hannah imposed the daily fines.
Logan ordered to give deposition
The company's CEO, Doug Logan, has apparently dissolved the company after losing millions on the election review, which Logan claimed cost him more than the millions he collected in donations from partisan groups seeking to overturn President Joe Biden's victory over former President Donald Trump in 2020.
Kemp recently ordered Logan to participate in a deposition no later than Jan. 27, and threatened to issue an arrest warrant if he fails to appear. Kemp also awarded American Oversight $1,000 to be paid by Logan or Cyber Ninjas to compensate the group for having to file the motion to compel his deposition.
Besides the records from Cyber Ninjas, both The Republic and American Oversight continue to fight for certain Senate records that the Senate claims it does not need to turn over because they are protected by "legislative privilege," which the Arizona Court of Appeals is now considering
Kemp's ruling said that the Court of Appeals decision on that issue will apply to the consolidated case, once that decision is made.
Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on Twitter @UtilityReporter.