Phoenix, Arizona — Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is being sued by a Democratic activist group for neglecting to reply to many requests for public documents.
In court documents submitted on Wednesday to Pinal County Superior Court, it is alleged that the sheriff and the county have disregarded five different requests from American Oversight for records about the sheriff’s interactions with various groups and people about different matters.
These include records about the safety and fairness of the 2020 elections as well as a Hereford, Pennsylvania, event for immigration reform in June 2022.
However, the county and Lamb, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, have not produced any documentation on “the so-called ‘constitutional sheriffs’ movement, which asserts authority to refuse to enforce any law a sheriff deems unjust or unconstitutional,” according to attorney Jared Keenan of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing American Oversight.
“Specifically, communications between defendant Lamb and outside organizations that fabricate allegations of widespread voter fraud and damage public trust in election management are sought by American Oversight,” Keenan said.
He added that any documentation showing Lamb attending “anti-immigrant and constitutional sheriffs events” is something the group is also looking for.
“Defendant Lamb’s involvement in inciting mistrust in elections, promoting anti-immigrant policies, and adopting policies espoused by the constitutional sheriffs movement could be revealed by the records sought,” Keenan stated.
Lamb did not immediately respond through his Senate campaign or his county office.
The organization’s demands date back to October 2020, according to the lawsuit. It states that there hasn’t been a response as of yet.
The records must be produced, according to American Oversight’s interim executive director, Chioma Chukwu.
“In a prepared statement, she said that Sheriff Lamb’s ties to people who have falsely claimed widespread voter fraud are part of a concerning trend of law enforcement cozying up with the election denial movement.” “His attendance at constitutional sheriffs and anti-immigration events also reflects a disturbing level of extremism.”
According to Chukwu, the county and the sheriff have “flagrantly disregarded” their legal duties under the Public Record Law of the state.
She declared, “The public has a right to know how his office is run and how county resources are being used.”
ACLU staff attorney Lauren Beall expressed that sentiment.
In her own statement, she stated, “Like all public servants, he is answerable to the people under Arizona’s public records law and is required to provide records when requested.”
Beall went on, “Instead, Sheriff Lamb has consistently disregarded requests.” “We won’t let his disobedience of the law go unchecked because democracy dies behind closed doors.”
The first set of records, dating back to 2020, is a request for any orders or directives from federal law enforcement to Bryan Harrell and Matthew Hedrick, the deputy chiefs, Lamb, and Chief Deputy Matthew Thomas. The next step is to retrieve any orders or directives about any “investigations, evaluations, reviews, or probes into cases of potential election fraud or voter fraud” that any of them may have sent to volunteers or sheriff’s staff.
A different batch of documents requests details about Lamb’s participation in the Federation for American Immigration Reform-sponsored “End the Biden Border Crisis Rally” in Hereford in June 2021, as well as correspondence around that occasion.
Requests for correspondence have also been made to the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank that advocates for a “return to limited government.”
Additionally, there is a widespread demand for all correspondence from Lamb that dates back to December 1, 2022 and includes terms like “county supremacy,” “constitutional sheriffs,” and other variations.
In a press release announcing the case, American Oversight stated that the information request is legitimate.
According to the statement, Lamb has played a pivotal role in the far-right constitutional sheriffs movement and their endeavors to undermine the credibility of U.S. elections. “A variety of public records that may provide insight into Lamb’s anti-immigration and election denial actions are sought after by the complaint.”
Earlier in the year than Democratic incumbent Kyrsten Sinema, who reregistered as a political independent, declared she would not run for reelection, Lamb was the first Republican to declare for the U.S. Senate.
Kari Lake, a former TV anchor, is his biggest opponent and currently leads him in the polls. Elizabeth Reye is also a candidate.
The sole Democrat in the contest, Congressman Ruben Gallego, will oppose the victor.
American Oversight has previously investigated politics and issues in Arizona. It was the first to reveal the forged electoral certificates prepared by Republicans claiming they were authorized to cast Arizona’s 11 electoral votes for Donald Trump since they had won the state’s popular vote in 2020.
Before that, then-Senate President Karen Fann ordered the release of records from what was described as an “audit” of the 2020 election, which American Oversight pushed to be made public.
