Thread by @weareoversight

Last week, Arizona Senate “audit” liaison Ken Bennett testified before the House Oversight Committee. Now he’s headlining “audit” town halls with a group that organized rallies to support Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Here’s what we’ve uncovered about Bennett.
azmirror.com/blog/bennett-h…

In his testimony, Bennett told Congress he "never witnessed any evidence" the audit was looking for bamboo fibers in ballots. Except we've got his text messages — in which “audit” officials discuss the hunt for "bamboo threads."

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1446158884549300226?s=20

We also uncovered records that show Bennett sent a letter with misleading information about the election and “audit” to individuals who were working to undermine faith in the 2020 election.
americanoversight.org/document/arizo…

In May, Senate President Karen Fann shared the Senate’s May 12 letter to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors with Bennett. The letter contained allegations that county officials later refuted as being “outrageous” and “completely baseless.”
usatoday.com/story/news/fac…

Bennett forwarded the Senate’s letter to state Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward (who worked with Rudy Giuliani to spread distrust in the results) and to “audit” consultant John Brakey (who told a reporter that auditors were looking for bamboo fibers).
documentcloud.org/documents/2080…

Records we’ve obtained also shed light on Bennett’s connection to the partisan ballot review’s Twitter account. In April and May, the audit’s Twitter account drew criticism for its unprofessional and inflammatory posts.

Bennett reportedly had trouble regaining control of the account from volunteers. We obtained a note that appears to have been handwritten by Fann around this time, indicating that the account was “not under the authority of the AZ Senate.”
documentcloud.org/documents/2096…

Learn more about our ongoing investigation here:
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

And to get updates on our investigation direct to your inbox, sign up for our weekly newsletter here: americanoversight.org/mail-lists