Free Republic

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered armed members of a group monitoring ballot drop boxes in Arizona to stay at least 250 feet away from the locations following complaints that people wearing masks and carrying guns were intimidating voters. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi said members of Clean Elections USA, its leader and anyone working with them are also barred from filming or following anyone within 75 feet (23 meters) of a ballot drop box or the entrance to a building that houses one. They also cannot speak to or yell at individuals within that perimeter...

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge Friday refused to bar a group from monitoring outdoor ballot boxes in Arizona’s largest county where watchers have shown up armed and in ballistic vests, saying to do so could violate the monitors' constitutional rights. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi said the case remained open and that the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans could try again to make its argument against a group calling itself Clean Elections USA. A second plantiff, Voto Latino, was removed from the case. Liburdi concluded that “while this case certainly presents serious questions, the Court cannot craft an...

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said he was not buying arguments that it’s illegal for the president to impose such a mandate when he is not requiring the same of people entering the country illegally. Liburdi, a Trump appointee, suggested he was not convinced Biden’s mandate forces anyone to do anything or that anyone’s rights of “bodily integrity” were being violated — something Brnovich argued.

The FBI’s Public Corruption unit has begun investigating efforts by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s past and current staffers – including one who is now a federal judge – to push for a closed-door deal to issue tax refunds worth as much as $100 million to aid one of Ducey’s campaign supporters. Grant Nulle, former deputy director at the Department of Revenue, said an FBI agent contacted him in mid-July, shortly after an Arizona Republic investigation uncovered how the Ducey administration had pushed the department to agree to refund sales taxes on fuel for mining companies, even though that tax had...

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) came under fire Wednesday from an abortion rights group for her support of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominee Michael Liburdi. In remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Sinema praised Liburdi’s credentials, describing the nominee as a “well-respected attorney” and noting his role as general counsel for Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. Sinema added that while she did not share “all of the same political beliefs” as Liburdi, he was still “professionally qualified" for the role. Trump nominated Liburdi to become a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in January. But...