On Thursday, American Oversight issued a deposition notice for Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, directing him to answer questions under oath about the company’s failure to release public records from the Arizona Senate’s sham election “audit.”

The move comes hours after the court granted a request to formally add Cyber Ninjas — the lead contractor tasked with completing the “audit” — to American Oversight’s ongoing lawsuit against the Senate for the release of public records from the partisan investigation of Maricopa County’s 2020 election results.

At issue are documents from the investigation, held by Cyber Ninjas, which the company has refused to return to the Senate to be released to American Oversight and the public. Multiple courts have ruled that those records are public records that are subject to release, but despite these court orders, the Senate has maintained that it has been unable to compel Cyber Ninjas to comply.

“The Senate has made every effort to keep the public’s eyes off the inner workings of its sham election investigation,” said Austin Evers, executive director at American Oversight. “By getting answers directly from Doug Logan and bringing Cyber Ninjas into this lawsuit, we hope to finally put a stop to these shell games.”

On Thursday, the court granted a joint motion for joinder filed by American Oversight and the Arizona Senate and formally added Cyber Ninjas to the lawsuit as a real party in interest. That status allows the court to potentially issue orders directly to Cyber Ninjas, instructing them to comply with public records laws. 

Through its public records requests and litigation, American Oversight has already uncovered more than 100,000 pages of documents related to the investigation, including records showing frequent communication of top officials with “Big Lie” activists, information about the election review’s funding, and connections with other anti-democratic election inquiries across the country. 

American Oversight first sued the Arizona Senate in May. Despite repeated court victories ordering the release of documents, much is still unknown about how and why the election review was conducted. 

American Oversight will continue to pursue oversight of the Arizona Senate’s investigation and other partisan efforts aimed at pushing false narratives about election fraud. Follow the investigation of the “audit” here.