Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is taking on President Donald Trump over his executive order targeting mail-in voting.
Mayes delivered a fiery warning while discussing Arizona’s lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting, declaring: “Over my dead body is that rule gonna go into effect.”
The legal battle comes ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, putting voting rules, mail-in ballots and presidential authority at the center of a major political fight.
Watch as Kris Mayes challenges Trump’s mail-in voting order, vows to fight the policy and explains why Arizona is taking the Trump administration to court.
#KrisMayes #DonaldTrump #Trump #Arizona #MailInVoting #MailInBallots #VotingRights #2026Midterms #MidtermElections #Election2026 #ArizonaPolitics #USPolitics #ElectionNews #TrumpNews #BreakingNews
Mayes delivered a fiery warning while discussing Arizona’s lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting, declaring: “Over my dead body is that rule gonna go into effect.”
The legal battle comes ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, putting voting rules, mail-in ballots and presidential authority at the center of a major political fight.
Watch as Kris Mayes challenges Trump’s mail-in voting order, vows to fight the policy and explains why Arizona is taking the Trump administration to court.
#KrisMayes #DonaldTrump #Trump #Arizona #MailInVoting #MailInBallots #VotingRights #2026Midterms #MidtermElections #Election2026 #ArizonaPolitics #USPolitics #ElectionNews #TrumpNews #BreakingNews
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NewsTranscript
00:04Well, what I would say is over my dead body is that rule going to go into effect.
00:10We are going to fight this tooth and nail in the courts.
00:14And I've got the best solicitor general in the country.
00:21Morning, everybody.
00:24Good to see y'all.
00:29Thank you all for being here.
00:31I'm Attorney General Chris Mays.
00:33Over the past four years, I have held many press conferences from this podium.
00:40But it is a rare occurrence for any attorney general to get to make an announcement as big as the
00:46one we are making today.
00:48For a generation now, social media has been an ever-present, seemingly unavoidable part of our lives.
00:56And while social media has connected the world like never before, for the kids and teens that have grown up
01:05in the social media era, the omnipresence of this technology has not been positive.
01:13In fact, it has harmed teen mental health greatly.
01:18It has contributed to teens' social isolation, lack of sleep, increased rates of depression and anxiety, and exposed them to
01:29bullying and predators.
01:30It has helped drive an increase in body dysmorphia and other social comparisons that have led to unhealthy and unrealistic
01:42views of the world and their place in it.
01:46For years, we have needed solutions that protect the mental health and well-being of our young people.
01:55But until now, most of the burden for protecting teens and youth rested with parents trying to police or limit
02:06the technology as best they could.
02:09Three years ago, my office and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general sued Meta, one of the largest and oldest
02:20social media companies in the world,
02:23for addicting young people to their platforms by using algorithms that preyed on the developing minds of kids.
02:32Our case alleged that Meta knew that their products were addictive.
02:38We allege that Meta and its executives knew the harms to teens and young people associated with heavy use of
02:48its platforms.
02:50But Meta pushed forward anyway, adding features like infinite scroll and filters that further harmed teens' mental health.
03:01And they misled the public about the truth all along.
03:06Today, we are announcing an historic settlement with Meta worth $17 billion nationwide.
03:16But the real story here is the injunctive terms that represent a sea change in the way we regulate the
03:25use of social media platforms by young people in this country.
03:30One day, we will look back on today as the beginning of the end of the bad old days when
03:40children had unfettered access to products designed to addict them and expose them to serious mental harm.
03:51This settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook.
04:02Those features include a hard cap daily time limit and productive pauses for teens, age 13 to 17, for its
04:17two platforms, Instagram and Facebook,
04:20which is a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use.
04:34And again, a pause at 60 minutes and 90 minutes to interrupt their scrolling.
04:46Nighttime blocks, restricting children and their access, children's access from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.
04:57So our kids will be able to sleep again at night.
05:03Second, limited school time access for teens by eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p
05:17.m. during the school year and no push notifications,
05:24again, going back to nighttime, after 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
05:29Parents will also have the ability to change their teens' feed from algorithmic, an algorithmic feed, to a chronological feed.
05:42There will be robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
05:53So no one under the age of 13 will be able to use Instagram or Facebook.
06:00And then there will be age verifications to determine whether a teen is age 13 to 17 years old.
06:09Safer, age-appropriate content controls will be implemented, including stronger safeguards against bullying,
06:18content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.
06:28Essentially, we got Metta to agree to closely monitor and remove that content for our teens.
06:41Stronger, more accessible and user-friendly parental controls, limits on social comparison features.
06:48This is incredibly important, especially for young girls.
06:53And I'm a mom of a 13-year-old.
06:55I know there's a lot of moms and dads in this room.
06:58But limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible like counts that have been linked to poor mental
07:10health outcomes in kids and teens.
07:14And the implementation and efficacy of these safeguards will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and by the settling
07:27states.
07:28These are groundbreaking changes to Instagram and Facebook and more significant and comprehensive than previously ordered by any court in
07:42the land.
07:43And perhaps more importantly, this settlement represents a down payment on an industry-wide social media experience that allows kids
07:57to connect in a healthy way.
08:01Today, we are also calling on other industry leaders like TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and others to mirror these changes as
08:14soon as possible to protect the health and well-being of today's youth.
08:22And I can tell you that the attorneys general who achieved this settlement with Meta will use every tool in
08:31our toolbox to make sure that we bring all of those social media companies on board with these provisions.
08:40We can never undo the harm that has been done to a generation raised without these protections.
08:47But what we can and must do better, starting today, is to continue to push forward with these provisions and
09:02to sign this settlement agreement as we did.
09:06And every company that serves children and every company that serves children and families must be a part of the
09:13solution.
09:14Arizona will also receive approximately $223 million from this settlement over the next 10 years.
09:26That money will be made available as restitution to communities and schools to address the teen mental health crisis that
09:36social media has contributed to.
09:39We will have more details on that in the weeks and months to come.
09:44But today, let us celebrate this bipartisan historic win, an example of how Democratic AGs and Republican AGs can come
09:59together with shared goals and a shared purpose of protecting the minds and hearts of our kids.
10:09And I really want to underscore that this was an effort that really started in 2021, but in earnest in
10:182023, that included Republican AGs and Democratic AGs working together.
10:26Over this weekend, I was on a call with just as many Republican AGs and I got to tell you,
10:36it was a beautiful thing because we were all pushing in the same direction to get this settlement over the
10:43line.
10:43And I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a new era where we refuse to let billionaire bottom lines
10:53and shareholder profits take precedent and priority over our shared responsibility to protect young people from the harms of technology.
11:06And I know this is this is this is the big news of today, but we have more news, so
11:12I'm going to talk about that.
11:13I also want to share that earlier this morning, my office sued the United States Postal Service over their unconstitutional
11:23rule that would upend election procedures just weeks before voting starts.
11:30I know this is the big news, so I'm going to talk about that.
12:00I know this is the big news, so I'm going to talk about that.
12:30It's run our elections, period.
12:37Not the Postal Service and not the president.
12:40And that's why we sued the federal government again today.
12:44So with that, I would be happy to take any questions that you guys have.
12:49Yes.
12:50Was there a certain piece of evidence that prompted the settlement?
12:54So, you know, that's a great question.
12:56We had accumulated since the investigation started in 2021, a mountain of scientific brain science data and evidence that showed
13:10that the algorithms and the infinite scroll features were harming our kids' brains.
13:18We also had accumulated a mountain of evidence that met as executives and social media executives knew about this harm.
13:29And so we were in the process in at least two courtrooms of putting on that evidence.
13:39So there was a trial going on in California.
13:43There was a trial going on simultaneously in Tennessee.
13:47The Republican Attorney General of Tennessee had brought this case.
13:51There had just been a trial in New Mexico.
13:54My colleague, Raul Torres, had won a huge jury verdict against Meta.
14:00And so I think that the combination of the pressure of all of that brought them to the table.
14:06And we started to have much more fruitful negotiations with this company.
14:14$17 billion.
14:15I don't know.
14:17So the $17 billion is being distributed amongst the state.
14:22So Arizona's share is about $223 million.
14:30I'm sorry.
14:31Did I get that right?
14:33I said it earlier.
14:34$223 million.
14:36And it'll be distributed to the states every year for 10 years.
14:43That amount could actually, that's actually a floor for Arizona.
14:47So it could rise, I believe, as high as $300 million if we get the other social media companies
14:53like TikTok and Snap on board.
14:57And so it's being distributed by virtue of a number of factors, population, but also whether
15:04a state had brought a lawsuit or not.
15:07Those kinds of things went into the calculus that the multi-state did.
15:11So the number could go up, that extra money for a stock and the company is a long time.
15:17That, that's depending on, that's not, we're not getting less than that extra money.
15:23We will never get less than $223 million.
15:27And the first payment will arrive in Arizona within 30 days of today.
15:34And then another one in January.
15:37Can you talk a little bit about how that money, once it gets here, where does it go?
15:42So we'll, we'll have more details on that, but I'll tell you what my thoughts are.
15:46And my thoughts are that this money needs to go to our schools.
15:51I want a significant amount of this money to go to our public schools for mental health
15:59counseling and to help our kids who already are addicted to social media and to help our
16:07kids come up with strategies and approaches to not become addicted to social media.
16:12So that's my personal priority.
16:14That's what I'll be working to ensure that the money is spent on.
16:21And you know, the, and the, in addition to that, we obviously have enough number of nonprofits
16:26that already exist in Arizona that deliver these kinds of services to schools and to kids.
16:32Um, but, uh, the money, and there's a, there is a series of, uh, uh, uh, approved purposes
16:40for the money, um, that I believe is in the actual settlement documents.
16:45You guys can look at that to give you a sense of it.
16:47But for me, I think we want to get a direct infusion of money into our public schools who are
16:54already suffering from budget cuts, um, as a result of the legislature's failure to fund
17:00our public schools.
17:01Yes, Jeremy.
17:02I mean, the, uh, USPS lawsuit, given that there's another injunction that's still in place
17:08and now there's a new lawsuit, is there any chance these people will actually go into effect
17:11for the elected elected elected elected elected elected elected elected elected elected elected
17:14and if it does, the only extent of how many elected elected elected might not yet, uh, or how it
17:19will happen?
17:20Well, um, what I would say is over my dead body is that rule going to go into effect.
17:27Uh, we are going to fight this tooth and nail in the courts and I've got the best solicitor
17:33general in the country standing right there, um, who is going to make sure along with the
17:39other, uh, attorneys general, um, who are fighting this case, I think 25 states, uh, signed
17:46on to this lawsuit, uh, this morning, but, um, yeah, I mean, you're right.
17:51There's, there is, so there is a second injunction, but that would be second injunction is on the
17:57executive order that what the Supreme court actually did is they, they ruled that, that
18:04our first lawsuit was not right.
18:07And now it is right.
18:08So, um, you know, it became right, it became right when the, when the postal service rule
18:15went into effect on, on Friday.
18:18And so now we, the Supreme court basically said, all they said was you have to file another
18:24lawsuit.
18:25Um, and that is what we, we are doing, uh, is filing that lawsuit in, in Massachusetts
18:30and federal court in Massachusetts.
18:32But to your point, it is important that we win this lawsuit because you have states that
18:39are within weeks, maybe two weeks of printing ballots.
18:44Arizona is, uh, 42 days away from early voting starting.
18:53So we're 42 days away from early voting starting.
18:57I know that County recorders are already preparing their ballots because as a candidate myself,
19:04uh, I get proofs of the ballots.
19:07They send candidates proofs that say, that say, here's how your name is going to appear on
19:13the ballot.
19:15Uh, and so I get 15 of those emails.
19:18And so I know our County recorders are right now as we speak, preparing those ballots.
19:24Um, so we, we, we intend to win.
19:27I think one of the arguments that we have made in the lawsuit is it's just completely
19:32impracticable for, for the post, for the postal service to, to implement this rule for our
19:40County recorders and the States to be ready for it.
19:44I mean, one of the, one of the provisions in the rulemaking is that the States would have
19:49to actually alter the, the envelopes.
19:53Um, for, for their mail-in ballots.
19:56I mean, how in the world are States going to be able to actually alter our, our envelopes
20:02in time?
20:03And then we would have to send our voter rolls to the postal service.
20:07And then the postal service would have to somehow determine who gets a mail-in ballot.
20:12I mean, first of all, that's insane.
20:14It's unconstitutional and it is completely physically impossible to do.
20:20And obviously those will be the arguments that we'll be making to, to the federal judge.
20:26Graham.
20:27Um, two related questions.
20:29Mama came to the phone.
20:31How was the, uh, included in your life?
20:34And she tells the parents, wow, this is great.
20:38When am I going to see this?
20:39How am I child?
20:40Yeah.
20:41So, uh, I mean, this has affected me and, and I think every, as this has affected me
20:48as a mom and it is affected every parent.
20:51I think, um, I find myself, uh, constantly feeling guilty about the fact that I know my
21:01kiddo, um, is on social media too much.
21:05I know that, um, I find myself constantly walking into her room to check on whether she's doing
21:12her homework or she's on Instagram or Tik TOK.
21:17Um, and I, and, you know, I, I am thankful that the, actually one of the things that I'm
21:25thankful that the legislature did and the governor did last year or year before, I can't remember
21:31it, I believe it was last year, was to prevent kids from using phones in schools.
21:36And my school does not allow kids to, to, to pull out their phones, but, um, you know,
21:44so many, you know, and I do everything I can as a mom to make sure that, that my daughter
21:49doesn't, isn't accessing her phone in the middle of the night, but look, parents are busy.
21:55You know, so we have so many, we have so many single parents out there.
21:59I'm a single parent.
22:00There's so many parents out there who are struggling just to make, you know, ends meet
22:06to afford their lives.
22:08They're working two, three, four jobs.
22:11And then their fifth job has to be the police, their, their kids use the social media.
22:16It becomes totally impossible.
22:19And, and that's why I think, I mean, honestly, I don't talk this way very often, but I woke
22:25up this morning and I said a prayer and I said, thank you, God.
22:30For the fact that we won this settlement, you know, this is the most important thing I
22:38think I will ever do as attorney general.
22:42And, um, and I think, uh, we now have to get all these other social media companies on
22:48board.
22:50Uh, and I think it's going to change the face of social media forever.
22:54And that is most important for our kids and the, um, lives will be saved.
23:02Suicides will be prevented.
23:05Um, children's, uh, attention will, uh, and the, the attention deficit issues that we're
23:13seeing in schools will be improved.
23:15Teachers' lives will be improved.
23:17Right.
23:18So, yeah.
23:19What do you say to parents or what do you say to people who say this is still a parent's
23:26responsibility?
23:27Yeah.
23:30Um, I mean, I, I don't, I don't agree with that.
23:32I mean, I, I, yes, it's for those parents who are blessed enough to have someone, you know,
23:39who can stay home all day long and who can police their kid all the time.
23:44Sure.
23:45That's great for them.
23:46That's terrific.
23:48Um, but most parents just aren't in that position.
23:52I would venture to guess every parent in this room is not in that position.
23:56And, um, this, and in addition to that, it's not the parent's fault.
24:02It's the fault of these social media companies who, um, knew, they knew how addictive this
24:12product was.
24:14This, this lawsuit is very much like the, the, the tobacco lawsuit is very much like
24:20the opioids lawsuit.
24:22The product was addictive.
24:24They knew it was addictive.
24:25They knew it caused harm.
24:27They didn't care.
24:30And now they are, because of the pressure that was brought to bear on them by primarily
24:36the attorneys general in this country, they are changing.
24:40Um, we'll go to Stacy.
24:49Because I don't, I, there's no other way.
24:52I mean, I, this was, you know, this had to be that they were not doing anything about
24:57it.
24:57They knew the science was there, that they had whistleblowers inside their own companies
25:03saying, this is harming kids.
25:05This is addicting kids.
25:07This is changing, literally altering the brains of our kids.
25:12And yet they weren't doing anything about that.
25:15And when you have a company that is, is causing that kind of harm, I do think it's up to
25:20the
25:20AGs to take action.
25:21That is why, you know, that is why you have basically every Republican AG and every Democratic
25:30AG in the entire country, plus the territories of this country signing on to this settlement
25:39agreement.
25:41And I wish you could have been privy to that, to that Zoom call that we had over the weekend.
25:47And every single one of those AGs knew how profound the injunctive relief is in this settlement.
25:55Stacy.
25:56Can you talk about, um, obviously doing Democratic AGs to connect with the trial, right?
26:04But, but, but talk about like what Arizona's role has been.
26:10Yeah.
26:11So, so what happened in 2023 is we joined the, the, the, what's called the multi-state, um,
26:17litigation.
26:19And, um, and we were, uh, uh, we were part of that multi-state.
26:25Um, and so that, uh, that, and then the bellwether states of, of, of that are in trial.
26:33And so we're, you know, part of that litigation that's in trial, um, you know, like literally
26:42two, just a few days ago, we were on the verge or we had put on, uh, uh, the, the,
26:50you know,
26:50evidence and, and, and the, the, the CEO, I think, uh, was, was set to testify if he didn't
26:56already testify.
26:57Um, and then at the same time you had individual states like Tennessee and New Mexico that had
27:05brought their own lawsuits.
27:06Tennessee, again, Republican AG Skirmetty, um, was literally, they weren't just on the door,
27:15the courthouse steps.
27:17They were in the courthouse.
27:18They were in trial, putting on evidence as we were settling this case.
27:23Sometimes that's what it takes.
27:29We, we did a ton of investigative, uh, work.
27:33Um, and so our lawyers were involved, our investigators were involved.
27:39We were, you know, we were, uh, obviously asked to provide information about damage,
27:44um, to our state agencies, uh, you know, to, you know, to our schools, et cetera.
27:51And we were providing that information into the multi-state, just like every, uh, single
27:58other state.
28:00And then, uh, helping with the motions, you know, helping with, write the motions and, and
28:05participate with the other lawyers in writing the motions and, and the briefing work.
28:11And so super, I just do want to say, I'm super proud of my civil division.
28:15We've got, uh, several of our lawyers, uh, here, uh, sitting in the back of the room who
28:20participated in this case, uh, all the way through.
28:24Yes.
28:36I think that's still a little bit TBD.
28:39Um, so I don't have a lot of detail for you on that.
28:43It's going to be very, very important because as you get, if you get a chance to, to read
28:49through the settlement agreement, it's pretty, it's pretty detailed and there's a lot of
28:54information in here about, about the independent monitor and, uh, the, you know, there's some
29:00very technical, uh, work that has to be done by meta, including the, uh, exactly what kind
29:11of technology is going to use to age gate.
29:14Um, and, uh, there's some technical work to make sure that the age gating is working and
29:21that, that teenagers are not circumventing the age gating.
29:26Um, and then obviously there's going to, that independent monitor is going to need to have
29:32or hire the kind of expertise needed to make sure that the, the, that, that Facebook, that
29:40meta is not allowing the harmful content on, and that it is actually turning the, the, the
29:49system off when they're saying they're turning it off and there'll be also, um, auditing that
29:55happens in terms of, um, you know, whether kids are, are, are getting on and when, and if
30:01it's, if they're leaking through.
30:17Yeah, I, I think on this one, not, there aren't as many privacy concerns because we're talking,
30:25we're talking because we're talking about preventing harm and kids and we are, we know
30:30already that, that some of this, uh, technology exists with regard to video games.
30:36There are some video game companies that are already using it, um, uh, because they were
30:42being accused of allowing predators to get on the video games.
30:47Um, so we know that technology exists and, you know, when you're, when you're weighing those
30:53privacy concerns against the, the terrible harm that has befallen our children as a result
31:01of this, I, I would side on, on, on, I would, um, err on the side of implementing the technology.
31:09And, you know, if, if, if folks have concerns about the privacy, they don't have to use this,
31:15the social media, or they can wait until they're 18 to use the social media.
31:21Yeah, yeah, Wayne, of course.
31:23Um, on the social media, you had mentioned the legislation that the government has some
31:30reforms to prevent the deterrence of competing, um, ideas kind of from both of those ties.
31:38I'm wondering if you could say, based on this investigation, the type of reform is the most
31:43against, um, appropriate.
31:45Yeah, I know there was, there was the back and forth.
31:48I, um, you know, uh, and, and I think, I think we would be happy to, yeah, our office
31:55would be happy to be involved in helping to, to, to broker that legislation and to, to help
32:03write it.
32:03Even, um, we gave that some thought when we were concluding the investigation.
32:07I think it should apply, uh, the transparency provision that TJ Shope, uh, uh, um, uh, introduced
32:17should apply to all state agencies.
32:19It should obviously apply to the governor, but it should also apply to the legislature and
32:24it should apply to every single state agency.
32:27Um, I've even given some thought to, you know, you think about who does procurement it in,
32:33and, um, uh, how many elected officials do procurement?
32:37You could, you could go down, down the list.
32:40I mean, you've got city council, city, you know, city managers and city councils.
32:46You've got elected sheriffs that do procurement.
32:50You've got a whole lot of different folks.
32:54So the question is, where do you cut that off?
32:57Where do you cut off the, the, the, the reporting requirement on contracts?
33:03And at a, in my mind, at a minimum, it should be the governor, the legislature, state agency
33:15directors, um, at a minimum.
33:20And that seems like a, that does seem like a kind of a no brainer.
33:24And I would say also, we took a look at, uh, what some other states are doing.
33:30There are some, some other states that are doing, that, that, that are doing really good
33:34work in this space.
33:36Um, and that could be models for Arizona.
33:39And I, I know you're going to ask me which ones next, and I'm going to, I'm going to have
33:43to defer to my staff on that one, but we did take a look at that.
33:48Um, and I, it wouldn't take very much to, to go just grab what they're doing.
33:57Well, I don't know if they want me to, I'm just saying, you know, we're, we did the investigation.
34:04So, you know, and I would imagine, by the way, before you ask her question, I would assume
34:08that Lindsay Perry is also going to offer up, uh, proposed legislation when she finishes.
34:13So, she's, she's probably going to, in fact, she, she might be the most optimal office to
34:21do that because she's an expert in procurement.
34:25I mean, that's basically what her office does.
34:28She looks at procurement and I would assume she's going to offer up something.
34:33Um, but these other, other states have done things that go, so maybe it's a part of it.
34:38They say, like, state contractors can't donate at all.
34:41Digital is a reporting requirement.
34:43I mean, uh, there are, uh, more, uh, stronger, more stringy state-to-play laws in many states.
34:51Yeah.
34:51Do you think there's going to be a little farther than senators?
34:54Um, yeah, I do, actually.
34:57I wouldn't have a, well, I think I, I, I would, I would think that, um, you can really solve
35:06a lot of the problem by, by banning state contractors from making campaign contributions.
35:13Or, you can solve a lot of the problem by banning contributions above, for instance, the, the max, the hard
35:21side amount, which is $5,500.
35:24But, whatever that limit should, is, you know, I, I think it's obvious that state contractors should not be giving
35:33hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates.
35:38Do you have any heartburn to have any, if that might hurt your own country or something?
35:42Look, it, it's, no.
35:44I mean, I, you know, I absolutely have no heartburn about that.
35:48And I, and I think you can win without, you can win without that money.
35:54And I think one of the great things about clean elections, because I'm, you know, I, I think I'm one
35:58of the few people in Arizona who have now, who has run both under the clean election system when I
36:06was a Republican corporation commissioner and traditional.
36:09And, and there's just, and, and, and one of the, and one of the reasons corporation commissioners traditionally use clean
36:19elections is that it eliminates any possibility and any questions that, that the utilities can give money to people who
36:32regulate them.
36:34And, and that was a beautiful thing.
36:36Like, there were no questions.
36:38You go, everybody has the same amount of money.
36:42Everybody has, has to go out and get $5 contributions from 2,000 of your friends, although most of us
36:50don't have 2,000 friends.
36:52And you don't have, and then there's no outside money.
36:56So that, when you juxtapose the clean election system with this traditional system that does allow in various ways a
37:08lot of money to come into the system, you quickly see that the, the, the, the clean election system is
37:15just optimal.
37:17But it, but we don't have that for all candidates or certainly most, most candidates above corporation commission.
37:26And I shouldn't say above because corporation commission is just as good as this office.
37:31It was a great office.
37:33But they, you know, the pressure, there's pressure to raise millions of millions of dollars.
37:39And I think it would not be onerous to put a ban on funding from state contractors.
37:51Just a follow-up to Century and Residential.
37:55Just address some criticisms from Republicans, your opponent in the AG's race,
38:02who has said that it, since Sunshine donated to the Democratic Party, and you are a Democrat, that it was
38:10inappropriate for you to do that investigation.
38:13Do you have some statements?
38:17Well, you know, look, first of all, I think it's rich for my opponent to say anything about this investigation,
38:23given that his, the, the only reason he got through his primary is an IE plopped $615,000 down on
38:34him.
38:35And it was funded by a company that I had sued, a company that was allowing Arizonans to boil alive
38:44inside their mobile home parks.
38:47That's the kind of folks that want Warren Peterson to be elected.
38:51So kind of rich from him, for him to say anything about this case.
38:57But, but like, what I would say to that is I did not benefit from that funding at all.
39:05And also, this was an investigation that took two years to conclude.
39:14We, it was a thorough and professional investigation conducted by my criminal division.
39:21Uh, we interviewed, I think, 12 people collected, uh, hundreds of thousands of documents and emails and, um, and collected
39:34two statements from, from the governor herself or her campaign.
39:39So, you know, when you go back and you look at all the investigations that we have done in this
39:44office, it probably ranks right up there in the top three in terms of the intensiveness and the man and
39:51woman hours that we, that, that we applied to it.
39:55And, um, and so, um, I, I guess I would just leave it, leave it at that.
40:00Yeah.
40:01Jeremy.
40:01You mentioned 12 people interviewed, two years in the test of the year.
40:04Very thorough.
40:05But one of the people interviewed was not the governor.
40:07Um, you could be paid.
40:09Investigation is completely thorough.
40:11It could have been out of the government.
40:13Of the government.
40:14So.
40:15You know, look, the governor exercised her right to not be interviewed.
40:20Um, and, um, you know, uh, she chose to submit her answers via her attorneys, um, and the campaign submitted
40:31answers.
40:32So at the end of the day, we, we believe we had all the information that we needed to close
40:39out the case and to, to present the findings that, that, that we made.
40:45So I, I don't think that the fact that she chose not to sit for an interview, uh, was a,
40:52a make or break here.
40:53Uh, what, what was, what I think is most important is that it was a two-year long investigation where
41:01we got access to many of her state, you know, many people in her, her state agencies.
41:08Uh, we did interviews with people in her campaign and she, um, submitted answers written in a written format.
41:18I will add, you all asked her a whole bunch of questions too.
41:23So the statements from the lawyers.
41:26They've come in from the two days before.
41:27Sure.
41:28This was, like, the investigation, based on that, why didn't you, why didn't you just come in and still.
41:33I don't know.
41:34I don't know.
41:34You'll have to answer her that question.
41:37Yeah, this would have been done sooner.
41:40Right.
41:40Thank you, everybody.
41:41Okay.
41:42Well, she has actually never done an interview with a reporter about this either, which I guess my question is,
41:50like, what happens in those?
41:53Yeah, the answer is they didn't.
41:56Uh, we did 12 interviews.
41:59We got a written statement from the governor, two written statements, actually.
42:06Um, we got every document that we needed.
42:10Again, a two-year long investigation.
42:13Uh, my predecessor in his investigation into the, uh, Google situation, I think took, I don't know if any, if
42:24I have anybody from the criminal division here, but, uh, took like two months.
42:28Uh, and, uh, the, the sign-out memo on that one was done in writing and was one page.
42:38Uh, okay?
42:39So, there is no comparison between the job that this office did in this investigation and what was done with
42:48regard to the allegations against Doug Ducey and Google and the pay-to-play, the, the alleged pay-to-play
42:54situation there.
42:55Uh, and then, um, if I, you know, we obviously have a second investigation that's ongoing, um, that we will
43:02be, uh, available to help with, uh, if we're asked.
43:07Okay?
43:07All right.
43:08Appreciate it.
43:08We'll see you guys.
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