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FBI subpoenas two Arizona state lawmakers in Jan. 6 investigation

July 2 (UPI) -- The FBI has subpoenaed two Arizona state lawmakers in its investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Kelly Townsend, of the Republican Party, told The Arizona Republic that the FBI had issued them subpoenas. Fann added that the FBI had issued a Freedom of Information Act request "in the form of a subpoena for my emails and communications," but similar to Townsend, did not comment further.

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Kim Quintero, a spokeswoman for Senate Republicans in Arizona, also confirmed to The Washington Post that Fann and Townsend received subpoenas last week.

Quintero added that the subpoenas for both of them were identical, and they are complying with the request.

"They're requesting text messages and emails from a list of people, which I can't disclose who those people are, because they told us not to speak with the media about this," she said.

The Yellow Sheet Report, a political tip sheet for the Arizona Capitol, first reported on the subpoenas.

The subpoenas came amid federal agents widening their investigation of the insurrection to include the use of invalid electors in some battleground states in failed effort to overturn the actual 2020 election results in favor of President Joe Biden.

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Townsend was among Republican legislators who pushed for an alternate slate of electors more favorable to then-President Donald Trump from Arizona for the 2020 election despite his loss, the Post reported.

"As chair of the election committee, we were trying to hold a committee and do investigations," Townsend told the Post. "Because it was in question, we wanted to have an alternate slate in case fraud was discovered and found."

Despite Joe Biden's election victory in Arizona, Fann hired the Florida-based company Cyber Ninjas, a tech firm led by a Trump supporter who's made conspiracy accusations involving the 2020 presidential election, to lead a hand recount of nearly 2.1 million ballots from Maricopa County, Ariz., which again found Biden won.

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