A recently discovered filing in a court case relating to Big Tech censorship revealed that the office of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs coordinated with Twitter to censor election “misinformation” in January 2021.
The missive flagged two posts from a redacted Twitter account as being “of specific concern to the Secretary of State.”
“These messages falsely assert that the Voter Registration System is owned and therefore operated by foreign actors,” Hobbs’ communication director wrote. “This is an attempt to further undermine confidence in the election institution in Arizona. Thank you for your consideration in reviewing this matter for action.”
A CIS representative then forwarded the email to Twitter for review, writing, “Please see this report below from the Arizona SOS Office.”
A redacted Twitter employee replied that they would “escalate” the matter, and then followed up with a final email to both CIS and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirming that both tweets had been removed.
Hobbs’ office did not return The Epoch Times’ request for comment. However, in a statement provided to Arizona Family, Assistant Secretary of State Allie Bones said there was nothing unusual about the exchange.
“This email exchange is from January 2021, as shown in the screenshot,” Bones said. “Not only was it taken entirely out of context, it has nothing to do with this year’s midterm election. This is yet another example of conspiracy theorists trying to create chaos and confusion by casting doubt on our election system. It’s unfair to Arizona voters and it’s harmful to our democracy.
“It is standard practice for government entities, organizations, and corporations alike to report content on social media that violates a platform’s terms of service,” she continued. “It’s the Secretary of State’s job to make sure that voters are informed about how to vote and how our election system works. One of the ways we do that is by working to counter disinformation online that can confuse voters.
“Conflict of Interest, Coercion, Corruption,” she wrote.
Hobbs, as Arizona’s secretary of state, serves as the state’s chief elections officer. Leading up to election, she made waves when, despite concerns raised by Lake and former Arizona secretaries of state of the appearance of a conflict of interest, she chose not to recuse herself from her oversight duties relating to her own election.
“The Secretary of State did contact our County and cited A.R.S. Section 16-1010 as a statute that could be used to prosecute [the board] if they did not certify the election,” Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith told Daily Caller.
“I found out today that I have no choice but to vote ‘aye’ or I will be arrested and charged with a felony,” Gould noted while casting his vote. “I don’t think that is what the founders had in mind when they used the democratic process to elect our leaders.”
On Dec. 1, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi granted a motion for sanctions against Lake that was filed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in response to a lawsuit Lake filed against the county over its administration of the election.
“It is to make clear that the Court will not condone litigants ignoring the steps that Arizona has already taken toward [elections] and furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process,” the judge wrote in granting the motion.
