GOP Chair Elise Stefanik: Justice Department Is ‘Trying to Block’ Maricopa County Audit

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) speaks to members of the press after an election for House Republican Conference chair as House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), and the newly elected House Republican Conference Vice-Chair Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on May 14, 2021. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who was recently elected as the House Republican Conference chair, said the Department of Justice’s questions about the Maricopa County, Arizona, audit of the 2020 election may be unconstitutional.

On May 5, the Justice Department sent a letter to Arizona Senate leader Karen Fann, a Republican, inquiring about the custody of the ballots under review by a group of private contractors, alleging that the group’s other processes—including the canvassing of addresses—could be considered “voter intimidation.”